The Wolf Howls
by kkcaleb13
Summary: He's a master of genjutsu, ninjutsu, and taijutsu. For Saikuron, there is only one feat he cannot acomplish... talking like a normal person! One of the strongest ninja's around is about to have the entire Naruto crew help him overcome his fears of being in the spotlight, whether he likes it or not! Rated M for intense scenes.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE NARUTO SERIES, BUT IN SOME OTHER UNIVERSE I JUST MIGHT, SO FOR NOW, I'LL LIVE WITH THAT AND JUST LEAVE YOU ALL WITH THIS UNOFFICIAL STORY. PLEASE ENJOY!**

* * *

Tsunade sighed as she looked across the desk at the Riakage, "Listen, I know you have been having a hard time dealing with the effects of the great ninja war, but there's no way we can take all of the new-"

The Riakage held his hand up, "Wait, I think you misunderstand what I meant when I sent the letter. I don't want to move all of the new ninja students here. It's just one student."

Tsunade let out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness, I was under the impression you'd lost it"

"This student, however, isn't one that I can teach. I personally was unable to make any progress with him."

"He must be a very stubborn student"

"Not at all, he does everything I ask of him"

"Then, he's very weak?"

"No, he's by far the strongest new ninja I've ever seen, he was capable of being a Jounin from the day I met him"

Tsunade placed her tea on the table, "... How old is this student?"

"Sixteen, he came to me a year ago."

"... So where is the problem?"

"He has... issues that I cannot help him with"

"What kind of issues?"

"He is... bad with people"

"So... he's very shy?"

"To put a wildfire mildly, yes, he is a very shy boy"

"Well, we've had shy ninja's in the past, how soon can he get here?"

The Riakage sighed, "He's waiting outside the door, but I think it would be best if he stayed out there for right now"

"Nonsense, I won't hurt him, bring him in"

The Raikage opened the door, "Siakuron, come on in"

After a minute had passed, Tsunade smiled, "Relax, Saikuron, I won't hurt you, I just want to meet you"

A shakey eye face turned the corner, with innocent, green eyes that shook like his white hair, "Y-You want to meet me?"

"Yes, the Raikage told me you might be worried about me being a little loud, I promise not to yell"

The rest of the boy entered the doorway, he was dressed in a T-shirt and a pair of blue pants, but he quickly hid behind the massive Raikage, who was at least a foot taller than him, "N-N-Nice to meet you, Lady Tsunade"

Tsunade smiled warmly, "Nice to meet you, too, Saikuron. Why don't you have a seat and tell me about yourself?"

Saikuron hid behind the couch as the Raikage sat on it. The Raikage sighed, "It's okay to talk to her, she's just trying to help you train, remember?"

Saikuron peaked over the couch, "M-My name is Saikuron... I'm fifteen... I really like to train, but I'm not good at talking to people..."

Tsunade could see how hard he was trying not to hide behind the couch, "Okay, tell me a little bit about your strengths, if I know where you stand, it would make lessons a little easier to plan for"

"M-My Tiajutsu is very advanced... my genjutsu is very accurate... and my ninjutsu is based off of several different techniques that I've combined through my studies"

"Hm... would it be too much if I asked you to give me a demonstration?"

Saikuron hid behind the couch as th Raikage began to sweat, "Saikuron doesn't like to perform in front of strangers, especially not those above him in rank"

Tsunade waved her hand, "Oh, Saikuron, don't worry, I'm just a normal person, like you. There's no need to be afraid, just do what you would normally do"

Siakuron swallowed from behind the couch, "O-Okay... I'll try!"

Tsunade smiled, "See, Riakage, all you need to do is make sure he knows you just want to help him"

* * *

Tsunade began to sweat as Saikuron tried to hide behind her. She had forgotten that a couple of Genin were there for lessons under Iruka, but she had no idea they would effect Saikuron as much as they did. The second one of them pointed at him, he hid behind Tsunade and refused to budge. The little boy that had pointed at him spoke up, "Lady Tsunade, who is that guy?"

Iruka saw Tsunade's expression and tried to help her out, "Kids, why don't we go train somewhere else?"

A little girl stepped forward, "Before that, Lady Tsunade, could you show us one of your really cool skills?!"

Saikuron popped his head out, "Yeah! Tsunade, you can do one of your moves on me!", Tsunade was confused until he whispered into her ear, "As long as you're the center of attention, I won't be nervous"

Tsunade sighed, "All right kids, you want to see a really hard punch?"

The kids shouted, "Yeah! Yeah!"

Tsunade felt bad as she looked at Saikuron from a few feet away, but she felt a little better as she saw the tension and worry fade from his face. He was now wearing a happy smile, as if the weight that had been holding him down had been lifted off his shoulders, and he was without a care in the world. She closed her eyes and focused her strength, then she jumped into the air and brought down her fist with Herculean strength, "AAAAAAAAAAAH!"

As she made contact, she created a crater in the earth that reached at least a few yards into the earth. When the dust settled, she began to sweat as she realized she might've gone too hard on him. Her fears were dispersed as Saikuron jumped out of the crater, without so much as a bruise, "Good hit, Tsunade!"

Tsunade was shocked, in her quick confusion, she'd accidentally put everything she had into that punch, anybody else that would've taken that hit directly would've been crushed or at least horribly beaten. But Siakuron was perfectly fine, until he suddenly hid behind Tsunade, which was when Tsunade realized the kids were running back, "Wow! That was so cool! How did he take that hit without getting hurt?! Who is that guy, Lady Tsunade?"

Tsunade sighed, "He's new to the Hidden Leaf, his name is Saikuron. Please try to make him feel as welcome as you can"

Siakuron waved to them from behind Tsunade, "H-H-Hi..."

The boy jumped out in front of Tsunade, "Hey! Could you teach me how to do that? I think that was really amazing!"

Siakuron hid behind Tsunade, "I-I'm not a g-g-good teacher...but if y-you w-work hard, y-you'll be great one day..."

The boy held his thumb up, "Then I'm gonna work real hard to become strong like you, Saikuron!"

As Saikuron shivered, Tsunade and Iruka handled the situation, eventually getting the kids to go train elsewhere on their own. Iruka looked to Tsunade with a soft smile, "So, that's the guy the Raikage wanted to bring here... where'd he go?"

Tsunade pointed to the tree stumps, where Saikuron was promptly trying to stay out of sight, "Well, there's no denying he has skills, but I have no clue what they are"

The Raikage landed next to Tsunade, "I figured you'd be finished by now... where's Saikuron?"

Tsunade pointed at him, "He took one of my strongest hits without so much as blinking, do you have any idea how that happened?"

"Hey, Saikuron! Come here, I want to ask you something"

Saikuron stood at attention before the Raikage, "Y-Yes sir!"

"Just how did you block that hit? I want details"

"As opposed to the normal combination of defense techniques, I used a combination of all three jutsus. First, I used genjutsu to throw off her aim slightly, causing her to hit my bicep as oppossed to my shoulder or elbow. My extensive training in taijutsu has allowed me to develope those muscles and pinpoint a precise spot where the blow could be distrubuted without causing damage to my body. Then, as a precautionary measure, I used earth-style ninjutsu to strengthen the ground withing half a meter of my foot, and soften the remaining ground, so that even if the blow was strong enough to force me nto the ground, I would recieve little to no stress upon my muscles."

Tsunade was impressed, "That's amazing"

Saikuron hid behind the Raikage, "P-Please don't stare at me like that..."

The Raikage chuckled, "See what I mean? Kid's the perfect ninja, but he can't handle the spotlight, any chance you could help him?"

Tsuande sighed, "I'll see if I can't help him, hey, Saikuron, do you like Ramen?"

"R-Ramen?"

* * *

Saikuron looked at the bowl of ramen as Teuchi smiled, "Don't worry, I promise it's good!"

Saikuron gave him a small bow, "Thank you, f-for the ramen"

"Don't worry about it! This is your first time here and you're a shinobi! You deserve one free bowl, especially since the Hokage brought you here!"

Saikuron took a bite, "Wow! This is really good!"

Teuchi smiled, "What'd I tell you? This place is the best Ramen shop in the world! People come from all around to try it, so please, help yourself. Just remember to thank Lady Tsunade for any more bowls you have."

Saikuron smiled as he looked to Tsunade, "Thanks, Lady Tsunade"

Tsunade smiled, "I figured the ramen's famous enough to make you feel at ease"

Saikuron smilled, "Huh... I guess I do feel better since people are focused on the ramen instead of me"

Tsunade took another bite, "Now we can just talk normally, right?"

"Sure"

"So, tell me a little bit about your training, I'm curious"

"Well, until I came here, most days, I would spend four hours studying in the Raikage's library, on different types of jutsu, their effects, and possible ways to combine them to make them stronger or more effective. I would take a few minutes to eat lunch, then I would go out into a special training field for about eight hours, working on chakra control, physical training, and then practical training via some of the ANBU that had spare time"

"You practiced your techniques against ANBU shinobi?"

"Yeah, if I practiced against anyone else, I wouldn't get any better"

"Alright, this is just a question I want to know the answer to, so you don't have to answer if you don't feel comfortable, but, why do you want to be a shinobi?"

"... When I was little, I was abandoned by my parents on the road. I wasn't from the area, I was just a little baby in a basket. I was found by a small orphanage a ways away from Kumogakure, where I was grew up knowing about my parent's having abandoned me. For a little kid to know his parents didn't want him... I thought I couldn't do anything, so I went out and looked for something to aspire to, and then I found out about the shinobi"

"Did you apply to the ninja academy?"

"No way, I was too nervous to even think about it. I loved the shinobi because they worked so hard to do what was right, even if they never recieved any attention for it, that was amazing, to me. But if I couldn't learn from a teacher, I would have to learn it another way, so I did the only thing I could; I learned by experience"

"Experience?"

"I would watch the lessons provided by instructors in the shadows, borrow books from classrooms to learn anything I couldn't see being done, and sometimes, I would patrol the outskirts of the village, looking for anyone up to no good"

"You did all this yourself?"

"Yeah, I was in the middle of obtaining some of the more advanced ninjutsu scrolls and books chronicling ANBU missions when the Raikage discovered me by mistake. After a quick interrogation, he told me he wanted me to see what I could do. For the first two days, I was too nervous to do a thing, so he was almost convinced I was a spy, until there was an tsunami. All of the water and rocks would have destroyed the orphanage, along with half of Kumogakure, I used a combination of wind, fire, and water-style ninjutsus to avert the crisis, when he saw what I could do, he agreed to train me, whenever he had the time to."

"That's a pretty incredible story, you want another bowl of ramen?"

Saikuron smiled, he felt happier knowing he wasn't interrupting her meal, "Yes, please, if that's not too much to ask"

"You know, for such a strong ninja, you don't eat as much as you probably should, even most of my Jounin would've swallowed that bowl whole"

Saikuron waved his hand, "A real shinobi should be conservative of his strenght and supplies, besides, how can you enjoy ramen this good if you swallow it all in one bite?"

Tsunade smiled, "If only I could get Naruto to understand that concept..."

"Naruto? The jinchuriki? He holds the Nine Tails, right?"

"Yeah, but he eats more than that fox ever could..."

"It must be tough for him, holding that much chakra inside his body. It kind of make you wonder..."

"Wonder about what?"

"If he ever talks to the Nine Tails... if he and the Nine Tails get along... actually, I wonder if the Nine Tails has another name. He can't just call himself 'Nine Tails' all the time, that would get exhausting after a while. Killer Bee, he called the Eight Tails Gyuki, but I never asked if it was his real name or just a nickname Bee made for him. Kinda funny, that even though the tailed beasts rampage and destroy everything they see... in a way, they're just like people. They feel emotions, they hurt, they love, they cry... just like the jinchuriki that cary them, they get viewed as demons when in reality... they're just cursed with a ton of power they can't fully control"

Tsunade was taken aback, she had never thought about it before, but he had accurately made a very unique observation every non-jinchuriki in the world had missed, "That's... deep"

He began to blush, "P-Please don't stare at me like that..."

Tsunade snapped out of her trance and sighed, "Well, I think that it would be best if you did a few lessons with a friend of mine, his name is Kakashi"

"The copy ninja? I guess you want him to gauge my abilities, right?"

"Yes, since I can't start you anywhere without knowing just how good you really are, it would be best that we find you a starting point"

"Fair enough, can we start tomorrow? I would actually like to study up on Konohagakure's current ninja's a little more, seeing as most of my information is on older ninja's, I have very little knowledge of the younger ninjas"

"Listen, it's not that I don't trust you, but files like the ones you're requesting are sealed for a reason"

"You're right about that, I shouldn't expect you to trust me with sensative information about you're shinobi, especially since you just met me. If that's the case, would it still be alright for me to take today off and get to know them?"

"Like... meet them?"

"If I can work up the nerve to talk to them..."

"Well, if you don't want attention drawn to yourself, I know just the person you could start with"

"Who's that?"

"Our resident tiajutsu expert, Rock Lee"

"Rock Lee? Didn't he face off against Gaara in his Chunnin exams?"

"Yes, Lee lost that fight, but he recovered from his injuries miraculously and has since become one of our strongest ninjas"

"I'd imagine he trains pretty hard, since he can't use genjutsu or ninjutsu"

"He's probably training as we spe-"

Tsunade was cut off as Lee burst through the door, "Yes! Now, even a genius has fallen at the hands of the power of youth!"

Neji sighed behind him, "You beat me in a sparring match, Lee, there's no need for you to be so excited..."

"Of course there is, for now you will be buying lunch!"

Tenten sighed behind Lee, "You don't have to yell... hey, isn't that Lady Tsunade?"

Tsunade waved to them, "Hey! Lee, we were just about to go looking for you!"

Lee looked confused, "Lady Tsunade! I do not wish to correct you! But you said we! This seems odd as you are alone!"

Tsunade looked around to see that Saikuron had vanished, "Where did he...?"

Tsunade noticed the boy was slowly tip-toeing towards the exit, when Lee pointed at him, "You there! You seem highly suspicious and the Hokage is looking at you! Why are you acting so strangely?!"

Saikuron fainted as the everyone looked at him, feeling crushed under the pressure. Tenten ran over and tried to nudge him awake, "Hey, are you okay?"

Saikuron covered his eyes with his hands and faced away from her, "D-Don't look at me... just... look away..."

Neji placed his hand on Tenten's shoulder, "I believe he would prefer to be left alo-"

Lee jumped over them and lifted Saikuron into the air by his collar, "Who are you?!"

"S-S-Saikuron... please... leave me alone..."

Tsunade became mad, "Lee! Put him down! He was just having lunch with me!"

Lee dropped Saikuron, who quickly left the as fast as his feet could carry him, which was almost faster than Lee could see, "I am sorry, Lady Tsunade! I will go and apologize to him now!"

Tsunade didn't get the chance to stop him as Lee dashed out, "Lee! Wait! Crap..."

Tenten looked to Tsunade, "Lady Tsunade, who was that guy?"

"He's Saikuron, a new ninja, I'm not quite sure what he's capable of, but he seems kind enough. Tenten, Neji, I want the two of you to go and train with him, see what he can do"

Neji nodded, "Very well, I'll make sure Lee doesn't overdo it"

"We might be too late...", Tenten pointed to the trail of dust where Lee used to be.

They could faintly hear Lee in the distance, "I will catch up to him in no time or I will be training for several hours on my speed!"

* * *

Saikuron had secluded himself in the woods, far beyond where most people would bother searching. It was only a little after noon, so he was able to read up on the newspapers he had procured along his run. As he studied them, he began to calm down, by himself, he could read in peace now.

Or, at least, that's what he was thinking until Lee landed on the ground before him, "You there! I have come to apologize to you for my earlier mistake!"

Saikuron felt the color drain from his face, "I... I forgive you... please don't stare at me..."

Lee looked up, "I am sorry for making you feel uncomfortable, I have come to train with you in the art of Taijutsu!"

Saikuron stood up, "Alright... so what do you want to do first? Running? Pain endurance?"

"A one on one match! Let us spar to test see if we cannot match punches!"

Saikuron began shaking, "N-No! I can't fight while someone's watching! I'll flip out and mess up!"

"Fear not, I shall face you blindfolded, that way you won't have to worry about me watching you!"

"That's not the problem… can we please do something else?"

"I do not understand, you looked as if you were extremely hot-blooded as you raced out of the village, why are you so less hot-blooded now?"

"When I was running, people weren't watching me, I didn't feel like the center of attention… but if I was sparring with someone… they'd have to focus on me. I can't fight when I know that my opponent knows me when it comes to sparring… I'm sorry…"

Lee sighed, "I did not wish to do this… but if it helps you fight, I will use my forbidden technique!"

"Forbbiden technique?!"

Lee pulled out a small, white bottle, "This is the key to my secret technique!"

Saikuron snatched it from his hands, "Underage people shouldn't carry sake. Especially not shinobi"

Lee waved his hands, "Hey! I'm only doing this because if I'm drunk, I will fight as if I have no idea who my opponent is! I am trying to aid you!"

Saikuron handed him the bottle, "Here, just stop looking at me like that…"

Lee looked at the bottle, "Saikuron, I will apologize for anything I may say or do while I use this technique. For your willingness to train with me, I am very grateful"

"Y-Yeah, don't mention it…"

Lee sighed, then very quickly swallowed the contents of the bottle, "Ugh… this always tastes disgusting…"

"Hm… alright then, Lee, show me the power of your Drunken Fist!"

Lee's face turned pink as he looked at Saikuron, "Hey… hey… hey you! I don't know who you are, but I'm not Guy! Sensei Drunk wouldn't let me have a drop, never! Because he's the guy… the guy that… forget it, I'm just gonna beat you up"

Lee's strange movements and oddly-angled strikes would have thrown almost anybody off, but Saikuron was doing just fine blocking his attacks. After a few minutes of frustrating missed attacks, Lee took a step back. Saikuron smiled, "The Drunken Fist is a unique style that is about as balanced as an arrow with a rock tied to one end, so most people get thrown off trying to predict the next move. The trick is not making any predictions, and being quick enough to deflect random strikes"

Lee hiccuped, "I'm not drunk! You… are…", Lee fell to the ground and began napping.

Saikuron began writing a note of thanks, which he then placed on top of the napping Lee. He turned to leave when he saw Neji and Tenten, "Ah!"

Neji sighed, "Hiding behind a tree won't make us go away"

"Then stop looking at me! Please?!"

Tenten opened the note she found on Lee, "Hey, Neji, it looks like he and Lee did some sparring, and… Lee was using the Drunken Fist?!"

"H-He didn't recognize me while he was drunk, so please don't be upset with him! He just did it to help me relax!"

Neji looked at the note carefully, then picked up the empty bottle, "Lee actually finished the entire bottle… he was really determined to help you out. And, I assume he won the match?"

"N-Not really… I was in the lead until he passed out…"

Neji's surprise was apparent, "You were winning?!"

Lee jumped up, "Of course I'm winning! I am Rock Lee!"

Lee began wildly throwing punches, while Tenten and Neji watched in amazement as Saikuron intercepted each punch using only his open right hand. It was as if he knew where Lee was going to strike and his hand was simply moving to where it should have been. After he stopped swinging, Saikuron held Lee's shoulders and looked him directly in the eyes, "Alright, enough Drunken Fist, get rid of the alcohol"

Lee stood still for a moment, then he turned around and got rid of the alcohol… along with everything else in his stomach, "Ugh… where am I?"

Neji covered him mouth, "How did you do that?"

Saikuron patted Lee on the back, "Genjutsu… I know he doesn't really want to hurt you guys, so I had to protect you. Now he's back to normal, right Lee?"

Lee wiped his mouth, "More or less…"

"Im just glad you're okay… thank you for the sparring match, Lee, I really appreciate it. It's the first match I've had where I didn't have to wear a mask. It was fun!"

Tenten was confused, "You've never had a normal sparring match before?"

"Yes I have! My opponents just didn't know who I was… and they couldn't see my face… and I didn't use my personal favorite style of jutsu"

"What part of that is normal…?"

Saikuron turned to Lee, "Hey, Lee, can I train with you tomorrow? Since you already know who I am, I feel a little more comfortable with you around"

Lee held his thumb up, "I will accept you as a training partner! Tomorrow, me, you, and Guy sensei will train harder than ever before!"

"Yeah! Wait, who's Guy?"

"My teacher! He will insure that we get the best possible training he can provide!"

"Is he… kind of like you?"

Tenten laughed, "You have no idea"

"That's okay… I guess. I'll just do what he tells you to do"

Lee held up his fist, "I look forward to it! We will meet at the training grounds at dawn!"

Saikuron smiled, "Sounds good!"

Lee charged off, then Tenten looked at Saikuron with concern, "Will you be alright? Lee and Guy's training can get pretty intense…"

Saikuron looked a little more nervous, "W-w-well, Lee seems like a nice guy, and he didn't put any pressure on me when we sparred, so I think it'll be okay"

"I was talking about physically surviving what those two will put you through"

"I-I-I've d-done some tough trainings before… but I should study the area… are ther any maps I could look at?"

Tenten pulled out a scroll, "This is a map that extends from here to the Hidden Sand village"

Saikuron shakily took the scroll, "T-Thank you, Tenten"

"How do you know my name?"

Saikuron hid behind the tree again, "I heard Lady Tsunade say it, please don't get mad at me!"

Tenten put her hand on his shoulder, "Relax, I'm not mad, I was just confused. I promise, I won't hurt you"

Saikuron peeked his head out from behind the tree he'd jumped behind, "Really…?"

She smiled and nodded, "Really"

Saikuron stepped out into the open, and faced Tenten without shaking too much, "Um… I hate to impose… but could you show me around and help me find a place to stay? I ran off before Lady Tsunade could help me arrange something…"

"Sure thing! I don't really have anything else to do today, so I don't mind"

"T-Thank you"

"Hey Neji! Are you busy today?"

Neji nodded, "I have some work that I have to do, I apologize, I wish you luck"

After Neji left, Saikuron sighed with relief, "Thank goodness… oh, that sounds mean! What I meant was, his stare makes me feel nervous! I don't know him that well…"

Tenten thought about it, "Well, he does have a scary stare… but Neji's a nice guy, don't worry about it. So, where do you want to go first?"

Saikuron held up a perfect square block of dirt with a beautiful flower growing out of the top, "Let's take this to the nearest flower shop!"

Tenten though the flower looked amazing, "Where did you get that?"

Saikuron pointed to a small, square-shaped hole that was obscured beneath a very large tree, "The Little Brother flower only grows naturally underneath much bigger plants, because it can't take direct sunlight very well, and it likes pure water best, in the form of morning dew"

"Wow… I didn't even know a flower like that existed"

"They're really rare, so I figured we should take this one to a flower shop, where it can grow safely. Here, smell it"

Tenten took a whiff of the little blue flower, as a gentle, yet wonderful scent filled her nose, "Oh, wow, that smells amazing"

"Right? So where's the nearest flower shop?"

* * *

Ino sighed… she had been trying so hard to make a move on Sai forever, but she wasn't getting anywhere. She needed something to take her mind off of him, but she was stuck watching the shop today… why couldn't something amazing just walk through the shop door?

As the door opened, she smiled, "Hi, Tenten! How can I help you today?"

Tenten smiled, "I'm just here with a friend to drop off a flower…", she looked around to see she was alone, "Ugh… where'd he go?"

Ino perked up a little bit, "He? You're with a guy in a flower shop?"

Tenten turned red, "It's not like that! I just met him! He said he found a really rare flower under a tree and that it would grow best here!"

"Wait, a flower under a tree that grows better in a house… it's not a Little Brother flower, is it?!"

Tenten sweated, "Yeah, actually-"

Ino grabbed Tenten's shoulders, "Where is the flower?! Tenten, tell me now!"

Tenten held her hands up, "Calm down", she walked over to the door, "Come on, Saikuron! She won't hurt you, stop being so scared! Then do it for the flower, it's not like it'll grow better right there in the street! Just come inside!"

After leaving for a few seconds, Tenten pushed Saikuron in, who was holding the block of dirt in front of his face, "Y-You didn't have to push me…"

"Then why didn't you come in sooner?"

"I-In a store, everything depends on the c-customer… the entire store is interested in the c-customer"

Ino raised her eyebrow, "Is he alright?"

Tenten smiled while she sweated, "He's a little shy"

"Well, if it helps, it's time for my break, so you're not a customer anymore"

Saikuron sounded a little less nervous, "Really? No tricks?"

"Really, I just really like flowers"

"O-Okay…"

As he lowered the flower so that Ino could see his face, Ino forgot about Sai, she forgot about the flower, her entire world stopped spinning as she looked as his face. Even as she took the flower in her hand, she didn't bother to look at it, "T-Thank you"

He, noticing the stutter in her voice, turned really red, out of embarrassment that he had made her blush, "I-I-I… y-you're w-welcome…"

Ino just stood there, breathless, in her mind, she was trying to will herself to say something that would sound cool, "W-Where did you find this flower?"

Saikuron felt a little relieved that the attention had shifted off of him, "It was in the forest just east of here. It was kind of by chance that I saw it, it was the only one…"

Ino's heart skipped a beat as she thought fate had brought her this handsome boy, "D-Do you know what kind of flower this is?"

"It's the Little Brother flower, because it grows better under the protection of a bigger flower. It's also called the Gentle Lover's flower, after the only shinobi ever to grow one in a garden, who used it make medicine that saved her lover. It would be horrible to let a beautiful flower like this die, so I brought it here the second I found it"

Ino sighed, just as she thought the stars were in her favor, she found a problem, aside from not having a way to make him visit her again, "But this flower grows best in morning dew… I can't spend time every day gathering dew for it…"

Saikuron, seeing her dismay, pulled out a bottle of water, "Here, I got this", he placed the bottle on the floor and did some hand seals, "Mist Style: Morning Dew!"

As he had called it, a morning dew blanketed the flower, the wet flower now sparkling with a beauty beyond what any of them could've imagined. Ino watched as it bloomed in front of her, "This is amazing… they say this flower only blooms when lovers meet for the first time…"

Ino felt her entire face turn red as she thought what she had said was idiotic. Saikuron wasn't sure how to respond, but luckily for him, Tenten was there to rescue him, "So, Ino, Saikuron here doesn't have a place to stay, got any ideas?"

For a very bold moment, Ino let her heart run away with her mouth, "You could stay at my house!"

Her father, Inoichi, opened the door that led to the back of the store, "Ino… just who are you inviting to our home without permission?!"

Saikuron felt himself begin to sweat until Tsunade entered the store, "There you are, Saikuron! What are you doing here?"

Ino spoke for him, attempting to defend him from her father's overprotective nature, "He was just bringing this flower in, he found it in the forest"

Inoichi marveled at the flower, "This is the rarest flower in the world! It's said the odds of finding one are about as high as finding a single grain of blue sand in the red desert! The chances of seeing one, especially in full bloom… I must thank this boy for gracing this house with such an honor… where did he go?"

Tsunade sighed as she looked at the trail of dust, "Sorry, he's a new shinobi from the Hidden Mist, and he's very, very shy. I'm actually surprised he didn't run out of here the second Ino looked at him"

Ino's brain ran with it, "He… doesn't talk to people?"

"He feels uncomfortable being the center of attention. I actually thought he would've secluded himself from everyone in the village and just start reading newspapers. When Neji told me that he left Saikuron with Tenten, I realized I forgot to set up a place for him to stay…"

Inoichi held his chin, "Well, since he bestowed such a gift upon my shop, I wouldn't mind paying for his housing, wherever he chooses to stay"

Tenten looked at the trail of dust, "How will we know where he's staying?"

Ino snapped her fingers, "I know! Kiba and Akamaru can track him down!", she then dragged Kiba and Akamaru into the shop, "I need you two to track someone down!"

Kiba scratched the back of his head, "Ow, ow, ow… why did you pull me by my hair off the street? That really hurt…"

"I need you two to track this guy down"

"Not to be mean, but I don't track people down because someone has a crush on them and wants to follow them- ow!"

Ino's forehead was bulging as her fist shook, "Lady Tsunade needs us to track him down, jerk!"

Kiba held his hands up in defense, "Okay, I'm sorry! I was only kidding! Akamaru, let's pick up the scent!"

Ino watched as Akamaru sniffed the bottle Saikuron had left and took off, "We can't lose him!"

Kiba jumped up, "Follow me, I can keep Akamaru's scent!"

* * *

At least, Kiba had done that, up until they reached an area where there was a large, circular clearing, where Kiba was losing his mind, sniffing all over the place, "His scent is gone! I can't find it!"

Ino was panicking, "How can you lose a scent?!"

"I don't know! It's like the forest becomes scent-less in this exact spot! Akamaru! Where are you?!"

Kiba's yells were responded to with a quick howl, "There!"

As they raced to the source of the howl, they peeked through some bushes to find a strange sight; Saikuron was rubbing Akamaru's belly, while Akamaru simply let him. Sakiuron smiled, "You're a good boy, aren't you? I bet you work real hard every day! But your master must really love you, I can tell from your fur he washes you probably as often as he does himself"

Ino sighed from the bushes, "If only he washed himself more…"

Saikuron stopped petting Akamaru and picked up a wooden flute he had been carving using a shuriken, "How about a song? I promise it'll be good"

Akamaru nodded his head, as Tsunade held her chin, "The Raikage said something about his musical talent, but I don't quite remember what he said… it was either really bad or… something else"

All doubt on what was said flew away as Saikuron began to blow on the flute, the notes flying throught the air like birds, each one revealing another piece to the long line of engaging harmony. The leaves around him swirled as his playing continued, the grass swayed along, even the small pond's waves seemed to coincide with the music. Akamaru even swayed with the tune.

When he put the flute down, the people in the bushes nearly jumped out and begged him to play more, but the kept their distance and watched as Saikuron took his coat off and placed it over Akamaru, "Sleep tight, I'll take you back to the village in the morning, and see if we can't find your master"

Akamaru seemingly smiled as he drifted off into his dreams. Saikuron smiled and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small necklace with a metal pendant on it, which he held close to his heart. Tears streamed down his face as he clutched it harder, a pained look on his face. With a broken voice, he tried to sing, "Shinobi… we endure… so those we love… can be secure… Ain't no shame… in feelin' pain… but we hide our tears… down with our fears… Cause shinobi… we endure…"

For a long moment, there was an unbroken silence, as if he was daring anything not to feel his pain, then he looked up, "I know you're up there, watching over me, Mom… Dad… even thought you couldn't be there for me… so you did what you could… and tried to make me forget about you, so I wouldn't feel any pain over losing you. I love you so much… so I'll keep working hard… to make you proud… and make your dreams real"

Saikuron wiped his eyes, "You want to come out now, Tsunade? I could hear you coming"

Tsunade exited the bush alone, "I'm sorry for spying on you"

"Don't be, I let you. I don't care who's watching me when I speak my peace… it's something I have to do every night"

"That's uncharacteristically bold of you"

"I'm normally shy because I think people are always judging me… looking for a reason to consider me worthless. It was worse when I was a kid, because I thought my parents had already cast their judgement on me, and if they thought I was useless, who'd think I wasn't? The man that found me and saved my life was Bee. The first shinobi I ever met, one of the greatest of all time, and he told me I could be just like him. I called him a liar, ran away, and tried to hide from him all day.

When he found me, he was so tired, he could barely talk. When he could talk, he told me I had a talent for hiding in the shadows and that even he had trouble finding me. I was so upset, so confused, I yelled at him to stop lying to me, and then he put this necklace in my hand. And then he told me what it meant… "unclaimed worth". The only person who chooses what I can be worth is me.

Not my parents, not those who look to harm me, not the jealous, nobody, but me. That day, the owner of the orphanage showed me the letter that came attatched to my basket. My father had sold himself into a debt he could never hope to repay, on medicine he hoped would save my mother, and I was left behind out of fear the people he owed money to would try to kill me. My parents died in each others arms, tightly gripping a picture of me… because both of their hearts failed.

They endured… even though they couldn't hold me in their arms… they endured. So… it's my job to endure… and become the greatest shinobi ever to walk this earth, in their memory. No matter what anybody says, I'll fight as hard as possibly I can for the people I love. That's my ninja way"

Tsunade was impressed, "I understand. So, where do you wish to sleep tonight? Ino's father agreed that since you brought him that flower, in full bloom, he would pay for wherever you want to stay"

Saikuron revered back to his shy nature, "W-What? N-No, I can't ask him to do that… I-I'll just sleep in a tree tonight-"

Inoichi jumped out of the bushes, "Absolutely not! You will either stay in a fine hotel or at my own home, I will not let you sleep out here, especially after what you've done for me!"

Saikuron was trying not to faint, "I-I-I r-really c-can't imp-pose on you like that…"

"Nonsense! You're going to have a good night's rest at my home and that's final!"

As he was dragged off, Saikuron made one final plea for help in the form of a stare at Tsunade that screamed 'rescue me'. Sadly, Tsunade left him in the hands of Inoichi, who began discussing flowers as he walked.

* * *

Saikuron was desperately trying to keep himself together as he had been trying to shift Ino's father's focus onto flowers. Ironically, this led to him praising Saikuron's vast knowledge of them, making him even more uncomfortable. He was so relieved when they finally arrived at the house, only to be greeted by Ino's mother at the door, "Hello, darling, and who is this young man, Ino's boyfriend?"

Ino's face turned red with rage as Saikuron simply fell over. Ino ran to his side, "Saikuron, are you okay?!"

Saikuron's eyes fluttered, "Please… make them stop staring at me…"

Inoichi walked over to his wife, "Nothing of the sort. This young man is simply a guest to the Hidden Leaf, and as hospitable people, we should welcome him as our own"

Ino's mother saw right through it, "He did something to impress you. It must've been pretty big if he made you overlook Ino's crush on him and invite him to stay in our home… so what was it?"

Inoichi folded, "He brought us a Little Brother flower, in full bloom, no less"

Ino's mother looked surprised, "Goodness… how much did you pay for it?"

"Not a coin, he insisted we have it, so that it could grow beautifully"

"Is he smart enough to know how to take care of it?"

"He performed a ninjutsu to coat the flower in a morning dew, then promised Ino he would return daily to see to it the flower grow properly"

"Are you certain he doesn't just want Ino's attention?"

"This boy fears attention like a rat fears a hawk. Every time I spoke of him, he flinched or shivered, yet he is capable of amazing tasks while nobody is watching"

"That seems odd"

"He is a strange boy"

"I just can't believe you invited a boy the same age as your daughter to spend the night under the same roof as her", Inoichi cringed as he realized his folly, "You just now realized you did that?!"

"Seeing a blooming Little Brother flower did excite me… perhaps I made a mistake in my excitement…"

Ino looked to her father, "Dad, he's burning up!"

Inoichi forgot about his earlier line of thought as he felt Saikuron's burning forehead, "Ino, go fetch some herbs from the cabinet, I'll get him inside"

As he was carried in, Saikuron began shaking his head and murmuring, "No… grrr… get out… grrr… out…"

Inoichi laid him down in a bed and quickly fed him the herbs Ino had fetched, "It's not working, he's getting even hotter"

Ino placed her hands over him, about to perform a medical jutsu when his quickly grabbed hers, holding tightly for a moment, then gently pushing them away. He sat up, his eyes still closed, "I'm fine… I'll just sleep now, get some extra rest. Don't worry, I'll be fine"

Ino looked at him again, he look like he was dying, "Are you sure? It's no trouble, I can use medical-"

"No!", Saikuron shouted as he began shaking voilently, he tried to fight it, "J-Just leave me be... I'll be fine"

Ino felt bad, but she wasn't sure she was really capable of doing anything, so she left him be, "Alright... I'll leave you alone"

"I-I'm sorry... I don't want to be mean... I just... need to be alone right now"

Ino felt happy that he had considered her feelings, even while he was in intense pain. She returned to her parents, "He says he just needs to rest"

Ino's mother wasn't convinced, "I doubt that, Ino, why don't you check on him again? Just bring him some water"

Ino nodded and grabbed a glass, then returned to his room, "I brought you some-"

She dropped the glass as Saikuron pinned her against the wall, his eyes now a deep purple, his pupils like that of an animal. His entire facial expression read shame and pain, his breath made steam in the air, "S-Stop me... please... I can't... stop myself..."

Ino quickly broke his hold and put her hands together, "Mind Body Switching Technique!", having taken control of his body and seeing into his mind. As she laid him back down against the floor, she could see a huge abyss of fear and dispair. Every motion his body tried to make was completely on its own, he had no control at all, even though he was fighting with every fiber of his being, while a howling voice screamed in his head.

As she placed metal restrains on him, he was able to fight back some control, "T-Thank you... I'm so sorry..."

Ino smiled, "Don't worry, I know you didn't want to hurt me, I could see it when I was controling your body"

"You... were in my head?"

"Yeah"

"Then you head it... the howling"

"What was that?"

"I don't know... I haven't heard it since I was really little. But when it starts up, I can't control my body... and I feel really hot...", Saikuron began panting as his teeth began to sharpen, "Grr...", he gritted his teeth and they returned to normal, "No... I won't give in... I have to fight it..."

Ino could see how hard he was fighting, "What is it?"

"He keeps telling me that he's me, without restrain, without fear... he says that I can have the world if I want it... all I have to do is let go. I don't want to let go, I am who I am... I won't change who that person is because it's easy. I have to... fight... even though it's hard...", Saikuron's nose perked up, "That... that scent... it's driving me crazy..."

"What scent?"

As he looked at her, it was clear he had lost all form of control, "Grr...", his eyes, void of all humanity, cast themselves longingly upon her body.

Ino took a step back, as the gaze made her feel violated, "Stop looking at me like that!"

He didn't, in fact, his stare intensified as he began to bark, "Ruff! Ruff!", he let out a booming howl as he freed his right arm of the restraints.

Ino fell backwards as she moved away from him, "M-Mind switching technique!"

Her attempt to contain him failed as a brute wall of sheer will forced her out of his mind, and he freed his other arm. He slashed his feet free and look at her once more, until his right fist unexpectedly hit his face. As his fists assaulted his body, he crumpled to the floor, covered in bruises, and he began to whimper, like a dog beaten too much. His eyes changed back to their natural, green color as he coughed up some blood, "I got it... I won't let him hurt you... I promise..."

With those words, he passed out. Inoichi burst through the door, "What's going on in here?!'

Ino was still in shock, "I-I..."

Inoichi saw the blood on the floor, "Ino, what happened?! Are you alright?!"

Ino explained everything that happened, and once they had restrained the sleeping Saikuron again, her father and her discussed what they should do next over tea, "He really wanted to protect me..."

Inoichi sighed, "I'm not sure if there's anything we _can _do. He restrained himself to a point, and when he couldn't, you could. It appears the Raikage was unaware of this developement as well, he had no clue what we were talking about when I spoke with him about it. It would probably be best if you followed him around for the next few days, make sure he has a firm grasp on whatever it is that's warring inside him."

Ino felt herself turn red, "I don't want to stalk the poor guy..."

"Unless you can find a way to be by his side without making him the center of attention, I doubt you'll find another way to watch him."

Ino stared at the sunrise as she tried to think it over, though her train of thought was broken by a sudden knocking on the door. She answered it to find a familiar face, "Lee? What are you doing here?"

Lee held his thumb up, "I have come to retrieve Saikuron for early training! I did not see him in the requested meeting spot, so I came to get him!"

Saikuron rushed to the door from his room, looking very tired, "Sorry, Lee, I didn't get enough sleep last night, let's go"

Ino stood between them, "Um... can I come with you?"

Lee held his thumb up, "Of course, Ino! You are welcome to join us! Let's go!"

Ino watched Saikuron as he and Lee talked. Her thoughts were clear in her head, "I have to make sure Saikuron's safe, just like he did for me, no matter how much it hurts!"


	2. Chapter 2

Ino began to regret her decision as she felt the boulder on her shoulder start to crush her. She wasn't weak, it's just that she had been running with it on her back for about three kilometers. How Lee, Guy, and Saikuron seemed to be doing it with a smile on their faces was beyond her. She stopped, and Guy immediately stood before her, "Don't stop! You can do this! Press on with the full power of youth!"

Ino was ready to just punch him in the face and be done with it, until she felt the boulder on her back suddenly fly off. She turned around to find that Saikuron had placed the large stone on top of his own, "Fear not, Guy sensei! As a student that hasn't been training on your regiment long enough, I will make it more difficult in order to make up for what time I've missed!"

As Guy began crying with joy, he and Lee picked up another rock as well, and Ino looked to Saikuron with worry, "Will you be alright?"

Saikuron smiled, "This is nothing, I got it, if you want, I could give you a ride"

"I couldn't ask you to carry me"

Saikuron shook his head, "No, after what I put you through last night, it's the least I can do, hop on"

Ino eventually gave in and let him carry her atop the boulders, amazed as he didn't break stride. Not only was he keeping up with Lee and Guy, he wasn't even breaking a sweat. When they reached ten kilometers, Guy wiped the sweat off his brow, "That was a good run! Are you three ready for some sparring now?!"

Lee stood at attention, "Yes sir, Guy sensei!"

Saikuron began to sweat as Guy glared at him, his face drained of color, "S-Sparring... like... you'll be watching us...?"

Guy laughed, "Watching?! Not a chance! I'll be your opponent!"

Ino could see his legs shake, so she stepped in, "Lee, why don't you go first?"

Lee jumped in, "I will! Come at me, Guy senei!"

Guy smiled, "That's it Lee!"

As they began to spar, Ino pulled Saikuron aside, "You're too scared to fight him since he knows who you are, aren't you?"

Saikuron nodded, "Wait! Ino, is it possible you could use your mind switching technique to fight in my body?"

"Um... that's really creepy, on a lot of levels..."

"Please, Ino! I trust you! If I go out there to spar with Guy, I'll crumble like wet paper!"

Ino sighed, "Are you really sure you want me to do this?"

Saikuron nodded, "Yes, I'm sure"

"Fine", she did her hand seals, "Mind switching technique!"

As she took control of his body, Ino was impressed, despite the intense workout he'd just gone through, she couldn't feel any pain, soreness, or even discomfort. As their minds coincided, she could hear his thoughts, "Ino just made all of my nervousness fade away… she really is amazing"

Ino normally could keep her thoughts out of a target's mind, but since her emotions were backing the thought, it slipped past her, "You think I'm amazing?"

Instead of being surprised or making the situation even more awkward, he took it at face value, "Of course. You weren't afraid of me when I was, you had the courage to talk to me, even though I could see I made you nervous… and you were kind enough to help me. Who wouldn't think you're amazing?"

Ino blushed, it wasn't often she recieved praise like this. But she focused as Guy and Lee returned to them. Guy gave Saikuron a thumb's up, "Very well now, Saikuron, show me your power of youth!"

As his body took a battle stance, "I'll start on the offensive!"

With his natural grace, Ino was able to use his body easily, his immense strength masked by his elegant movements. She wasn't able to use all of his speed, but he was quick enough to work Guy over pretty good. Once his assault ended, Guy was panting pretty heavily, "Well done, Saikuron! Ino, Lee, why don't you two start while Saikuron takes the defensive?"

Ino's hold broke, and Saikuron's stance became very defensive, as his body shook. Saikuron gave Ino a thumb's up, "Good luck, Ino!"

Ino nodded to him as she began fighting with Lee. Her focus was shifted entirely to her own match, as Lee was a formidable opponent that could win with a single opening, so she decided not to give him one. Whenever she could get a glance at Saikuron, she saw that, despite his shaking, he was defending himself perfectly.

Even with Guy's speed and strength, Saikuron was deflecting every blow, as he began to spin in a circular motion. When he reached maximum speed, he caught Guy off-guard with an incredibly swift kick to his chest. Guy landed just fine, but he was smiling a little wider than usual, "Well done, Saikuron! Now, I will show you a move that is reserved for those with strength like yours!"

Lee stopped, "Ino! We should move out of the way!"

"What, why?"

Lee had fled too quickly to answer her question, as Guy jumped into the air and began swinging his fists wildly. Flames shot from his fists as he shouted, "Asakujaku!"

Saikuron was just going to avoid them until he noticed that one was heading directly towards Ino. He moved his hands as fast as they could possibly move, "Fire Style: Phoenix Wall!", as he breathed through his fingers, a wall of fire erupted before him, a gigantic pheonix formed in the flames. Just as quickly, he moved his hands again as he dashed towards the wall, "Ice Style: Flames to Frost!"

He slammed his hands into the flames, turning them into solid ice with his touch. Most of the fireballs were caught by the wall, but he could see that the wall wouldn't hold much longer. He looked to Ino, who looked surprised, "What was that?"

He pointed backwards, "Get back!", he waited until she did as he instructed, then his lightning-fast hands moved again, "Wind Style: Vacuum Cyclone!", a massive cyclone formed around him, but rather than blow everything away, it sucked everything in. The fire and wall of ice all vanished in a matter of seconds. After ten had passed, the cyclone dispersed and Saikuron stood where it had been.

Ino ran over and steadied him, as he was wobbling, "Are you alright?"

He smiled, "Just used a little too much chakra at one time. I'll be fine, I just need a minute", to prove his point, he stood up on his own; the shaking had stopped.

Guy held his chin as he thought to himself in front of them, "While that display was impressive, it used very little taijutsu… it relied heavily on ninjutsu"

Ino got upset, "You weren't using only taijutsu! And what were you thinking?! If Saikuron hadn't stopped all of those fireballs, you could've hit someone! If one of those things went far enough to hit the forest, you would've burned it down!"

Guy rubbed the back of his head, "Oh… I hadn't thought of that. Regardless! Saikuron, as you have proved that you are willing and able to train alongside us, you are welcome to do so at any time!"

Lee held his thumb up, "With your recent loss of chakra having winded you, we will continue to train while you rest!"

Ino sweated as she watched them start running, "Those two… they could train until it snowed in summer"

"That would be right now", Ino looked to Saikuron as he pointed up. His wall of ice had been turned into snow in the cyclone, and it gently floated down to the ground.

"How did you do all of those justus? Most people can barely do one style of chakra, but you just did three"

"I don't know. Initially, my chakra didn't really have a style, so I studied all the styles. None of them felt wrong, but they didn't feel right, either. Eventually, once I worked out wind style, it became my favorite, but I don't use it much"

"You used it just now"

He blushed as he looked away, "W-Well… you could've been hit by one of those fireballs… I didn't want you to get hurt…"

Ino smiled as the snow drifted around her… just a beautiful moment, alone, with Saikuron. She thought it was perfect until he suddenly threw a shuriken into the trees. Ino was surprised, "What was that?!"

Saikuron held another on at the ready, "Come out, or the next one will be a little lower!"

Ino watched as Shikamaru jumped out of the trees, a small hole parted in the middle of his hair, "Why did you hit my hair?!"

Saikuron squinted, "Why are you spying on me?"

Shikamaru held his hands up, "Hey! I just came to tell Ino that Lady Tsunade wanted to see her! I wasn't spying on anybody!"

"There's a bit of tree sap on the left side of your shirt, judging from the stain, you wiped your hand on it, yet there's still a good deal of it on your hand. Since you could conceal your presence from me, you aren't an idiot, but you managed to get more on your hand, after you carefully wiped it off. That would probably be becuase you were waiting silently on a tree limb and didn't want to move, because it would make a sound and give you away"

Shikamaru was sweating, "You can't prove anything!"

"The words of a guilty man. Who are you and what do you want?"

Ino placed her hand over Saikuron's shuriken, "Relax, Saikuron, while Shikamaru's not the most honest person I know, I doubt he wants to hurt you"

Shikamaru didn't change his defensive stance, "See?"

Ino shook her fist angrily, "Although, I'm going to hurt him if he doesn't explain why he was spying on me!"

"I just came to tell you about Lady Tsunade wanting to see you!"

Ino's stare intensified, "You're lying"

"I may have… seen the fight going on and started watching it. But there's nothing wrong with that!"

Saikuron smiled, "Oh, I get it, you were curious as to why Ino was training with Lee and Guy. You probably were told to tell her what you claim, but you took advantage of the oppertunity and tried to satisfy your curiosity as well"

Ino began shouting, "If you want to know something, ask! Don't hide in the shadows like a creepy pervert!"

"Ino, go easy on him, it's not like he hurt anyone…"

"He was watching us from the bushes, if that isn't wrong, I don't know what is!"

"Why don't you go see Lady Tsunade, and I'll talk to him?"

Ino sighed, "Fine, but don't think this is over, Shikamaru!"

As she left, Shikamaru let out a sigh of relief, "Thank god… I thought she was going to start ranting"

Saikuron smiled nervously, "Y-You saw me out there…?"

Shikamaru nodded, "Yeah, pretty impressive stuff-"

Saikuron grabbed him and shook him with tears in his eyes, "Please don't tell anyone about what you just saw!"

"W-Why not?"

"If anybody made the connection between my style in the fight just now and any other of the fights I've had in the Hidden Mist, everyone will know it was me!"

"So?"

"Can you imagine what would happen if everyone knew? They would all stare at me, all the time… I could never go back!"

"Wait, wait, wait, you're afraid people will stare at you?"

"Those eyes all focused on me…", Saikuron shivered, "… I feel sick just thinking about it"

Shikamaru began staring at him, "Like this?"

Saikuron turned around and cradled himself, "You're a sick guy, Shikamaru…"

Shikamaru felt bad for the guy, "Relax, I was just joking around, no need to flip"

"That's not funny…"

"But it's weird that Ino would train with Lee and Guy just to watch you, she thinks they're both crazy"

"If you think about it, both of them need to train like that, especially Lee, since taijutsu is the only thing he can use"

"I know, but even so, those two do push themselves past their limits"

"What about you? How do you train?"

"I do mental training. My mind's powerful enough to take down Lee or Guy"

"Okay. Well, since you're a smart guy, do you want to try a riddle?"

"It better be good"

"I heard it once when I was little, it took me a while to get it, but I eventually got it"

"Why not, lay it on me"

"How does a missing-nin return to his village?"

"A criminal"

"No"

"On foot?"

"No"

"Secretly"

"Nope"

"All of these are viable answers"

"Maybe, but none of them are the correct answer"

"You can't ask a riddle with many answers and expect the single answer you deem as correct"

"I told you I was a child when I heard it"

"A child?"

"Yes, therefor, the riddle is simple. Don't think too hard about it, how does a missing-nin return to his village?"

Shikamaru began staring directly at Saikuron, "You'll tell me"

"S-Stop staring at me…"

"Tell me and I'll stop"

Saikuron started shaking, "I-I-I won't tell you… s-so stop it…"

He held his icy glare, "Yes, you will"

Saikuron took off running, "Stop staring!"

Shikamaru followed, "Not until you tell me!"

* * *

Ino tilted her head as she looked at Tsunade, "What do you mean, he's a threat?"

Tsunade sighed, "As much as I hate to say it, we know very little about Saikuron. Even the Raikage has no clue where he came from, and that, combined with the report from Inoichi, is enough to mark him as a threat to the village"

"But, he hasn't done anything wrong!"

"You yourself claimed he could not control his actions as he became unaturally violent. We can't let him run around the village if he's at risk of hurting someone, whether he wants to or not"

"I could stop him! I proved that!"

"I can't have you watching him twenty-four seven. As long as he's unpredictable, we have to treat him as the threat he poses"

"That's not good enough! Naruto was granted the freedom to have human rights, and he was holding the Nine Tails! You can't do this!"

"I don't have a choice! After everything that's happened to this village, I have to make sure that what little peace there is isn't broken! It's just for a few nights, while we sort this out… you can visit him if it so pleases you, but I will not put him where he could potentially hurt someone!"

As she finished speaking, Saikuron ran into the office and hid behind Tsunade's chair, as Shikamaru entered the office, "I know you're in here! You're gonna tell me what the answer is!"

Ino looked at Shikamaru, "Why are you chasing Saikuron with your eyes bulging out of your head?"

Saikuron answered from behind Tsunade, "I told him a riddle and now he won't leave me alone…"

Tsunade sighed, "Really, Shikamaru? You couldn't get the answer, so you're trying to intimidate him?"

"There are too many possible answers! He only narrowed them down by saying the answer was simple!"

"Tell me what the riddle is"

"How does a missing-nin return to his village?"

"He finds it, so he isn't missing anymore"

Shikamaru felt his pride crack, it was such a simple answer, he never even considered it, "What kind of riddle is that?"

"One that they tell children to make them laugh"

Saikuron tugged on Tsunade's shoulder, "Lady Tsunade, could you make Shikamaru stop staring at me…?"

Tsunade looked at him with sad eyes, "Actually, I need you to stay in a special holding room for tonight"

"Because of what happened last night?"

"Yes. Unless you can show me that you can control whatever it was that effected you, I can't let you be where you could hurt someone"

"That's fair… could I have some books to read?"

"Yes, but before you start reading, there's someone I want you to speak with"

"Alright…"

* * *

As he looked at the mirror on the wall, Saikuron's stomach turned over. He had been in an interrogation room before, and it wasn't an experience he wanted to repeat. Even if there was nobody on the other side of the glass, he felt like a room full of people were looking at every movement he made, and he felt sick to his stomach.

He felt even worse as a white-haired shinobi with his headband over one of his eyes entered the room and took a seat, "Hello, my name is Kakashi, I was told you didn't know exactly where you stood, as a shinobi?"

Saikuron nodded, but didn't speak. That single, blue eye, that stared him down without mercy paralyzed his vocal chords.

"Well, seeing as you know how to use jutsus and can use your chakra well, why don't we start with this?", he held up a piece of chakra paper, "This will react to your chakra, and show us what kind of chakra is natural for you to use, here, touch it"

Saikuron shakily placed a single finger on the paper, which was cut into four pieces. Each of the four pieces did something different, one piece burned to ash, while another became wet. Another began to crumple, while the final piece turned to dust. Saikuron tried to speak, "T-The last one d-did that, too"

"From what I can see, you can use all types of chakra with ease. This is very unusual, normally only those with the Rinnagan can do this"

"I-I don't have the Rinnagan…"

"I can see that. Is there anything that's happened to you that you couldn't explain? Something that was extremely strange?"

"Once… I was a kid… and I heard it…"

"Heard what?"

"Howling. I've never seen a wolf in my life… but when I close my eyes to sleep… I can hear it in my mind. I've only heard it while awake twice… that day… and yesterday"

"Was there anything that happened on those days that was similar? Somthing that could've triggered this?"

"No… nothing…"

"This howling, could you discribe it for me?"

"Terrible… wonderful… free…"

"Free?"

"Free of fear… free of worry…"

Kakashi watched a tear roll down Saikuron's eye, "This howl seems to have quite the effect on you"

"It's from my head… like a part of my thoughts"

"Ino told me that you said you lost control of your body after you had a raging fever, what was going through your mind then?"

"…", as he thought about it, he started shaking, "I was thinking… about Ino… of how beautiful and brave she was… agh!"

He clutched his head as he fell to the ground. Kakashi placed his hand on Saikuron's forehead, "You're burning up… Saikuron?! Can you hear me?!"

Saikuron nodded his head as he gritted his teeth.

"Try to focus your thoughts! Keep your mind together!"

He began shaking more violently, "I… can't!"

"Yes, you can!"

His breath was fog in the air, "Grr… I'm losing… can't hold on… grr… the tag… in my pocket…"

Kakashi pulled a chakra-sealing tag out of his pocket, "This won't-"

Saikuron shouted as his nails grew sharp and his teeth grew longer, "Just use it!"

Kakashi placed the tag on his skin, and Saikuron began throbbing like a fish out of water. He screamed in pain as the tag burned itself into his skin. Kakashi could only watch on as he was unsure of what was happening, "I'm taking the tag off"

Saikuron swatted Kakashi's hand away, "No! Leave it! It'll be over soon, just don't take it off!"

Kakashi took a step back and waited, within another minute, the tag stopped burning and Saikuron returned to his chair, "I told you"

"Why did the chakra tag burn your skin?"

"I don't know"

"Then how did you know to use it?"

"The voice in my head told me not to touch it, and the voice only looks out for itself. If I see someone in trouble, it tells me to leave them, but I know that that's wrong, so I usually ignore it"

"This voice, do you have any idea where it comes from?"

"No, just that I can hear it, the way I can hear my own thoughts"

"Does this voice ever tell you anything about power?"

"No... it tells me I should have more, but that's not what it focuses on"

"What does it focus on?"

"... Whatever I want"

"How does that work?"

"If I see don't want to go someplace, the voice tells me ways I could avoid that place, or ways to destroy the place altogether. Right now, it's telling me how to destroy this room and escape..."

"And the voice is never wrong?"

"No... the plans are always flawless. Except for the fact that people get hurt in them"

"The voice doesn't care about other people? Just you?"

"Yes... recently, it's been getting louder... to the point where my thoughts are pushed out... and I have to fight for control"

"And the chakra tag silences the voice?"

"No... but it make it quieter"

"Alright, I think I know something that can help you, have you ever heard of chakra suppression?"

"Yeah, I practice it a lot, since I have a lot of chakra"

"I don't sense that much chakra on you"

"That's because I'm suppressing it. Here, this is what it normally looks like"

His chakra expanded so rapidly, his aura filled the room easily. Kakashi looked to see that, in the center of this huge explosion of chakra, Saikuron stood with his eyes purple and slited. After a few seconds, he surpressed his chakra again, returning to his normal self, "Wow..."

Saikuron turned away, "S-Stop staring at me..."

Kakashi shook his head, "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare. Excuse me, please"

Kakashi made his way to the room on the other side of the mirror, where Tsunade was waiting, "This is unnatural. There's no way a ninja could accumulate that much chakra without help"

"He reminded me of Naruto when he was using the Nine Tails's chakra"

"That's impossible, all of the Tailed Beasts have been acounted for, even if they're in the hands of the enemy"

"Chakra doesn't lie, either he's surpassed every ninja that's ever lived in terms of chakra and is insane, or he has a tailed beast inside of him"

"... We need a sealing expert. If this is a new Tailed Beast, I want to make sure it's kept on a short leash"

"I'll get the best we have here as fast as I can, but I can't make any promises"

"Just do what you can"

* * *

Naruto was calm as he held the scroll behind his head. He wasn't sure why Granny Tsunade wanted it, but then again, what did it matter? She was the Hokage, it wasn't like he was supposed to know how to run the village. He was just thinking about how he would get some ramen, until he noticed Ino was standing in front of the Hokage's house, trying hard not to cry. He gave her a little space, "Ino? Are you okay?"

Ino shook her head, "No... Saikuron's in the interrogation room, and I can hear him screaming, but I can't do anything to help him!"

"Who's Saikuron?"

"A new ninja from the Hidden Mist, Tsunade said he needed help, but I don't know what to do..."

Naruto patted her shoulder, "I'll take care of it"

He rushed into Tsunade's office and slammed his hands against her desk, she looked surprised, "Oh, hey Naruto, thank you for grabbing the-"

"What's this about a ninja being held in interrogation?"

Her face changed to a regretful expression, "He's not in control of his chakra, so he agreed to have it sealed partially"

Naruto heard cries of pain from behind him, "Oh, yeah, that sounds like he peacefully agreed"

"There's nothing else we can do at this point! He didn't resist us, he told us to do it!"

"Then why is Ino outside breaking into tears?!"

"Ino has been protecting him for the past couple of days, I can imagine she can't stand the sound of his pain, but there's nothing I can do about it. Kakashi is supervising the sealing, talk to him if you think it'll help"

Naruto set the scroll down on the desk and took off, finding Kakashi in the hallway to the interrogation room, looking like he'd just wrestled with a lion, "Kakashi, what's going on in there?"

Kakashi panted, "We're trying to seal off the chakra... but it's not going so well... this chakra's too violent... we can't pin it"

Naruto put his hand on Kakashi's shoulder, "Let me in there, I'm good with volatile chakras"

Kakashi looked at Naruto, "... I'm out of ideas... you can try, but if things don't go well, get out"

Naruto opened the door to find Saikuron sitting with his face in the corner, "Are you Saikuron?"

Saikuron cradled his legs, "Y-Yeah... are you going to try to seal my chakra?"

"Sealing jutsus aren't my strong suit"

"T-Then please find someone who can..."

Naruto recognized the tone in his voice, "You can hear it, can't you?"

"H-Hear what?"

"You can hear it speaking to you, telling you what to do, in your mind"

"S-Stop... just stop..."

"Don't ignore it, embrace it, it's a part of who you are"

Saikuron stood up and shouted as his chakra began to swirl around him, "Shut up!", his nails sharpened and his teeth grew, "I'm not a monster! Just go away!"

"I know you're not a monster!"

"Then stop staring at me like I am! Don't judge me because I'm different!"

"Nobody is judging you! You're just overreacting! Calm down!"

The aura around him started to slow down, "Then why do people stare at me?! I feel like a freak!"

"People stare at you because you're special, because you can do things they can't"

"How am I supposed to deal with that? They all stare at me and I fall apart... why can't they be like Ino?"

"Ino?"

"Yeah! She saw straight into my head, and she didn't judge me at all! She was so kind…", Saikuron grabbed his head, "… why is my head throbbing?"

"Does thinking about Ino make your head throb?"

"The voice… it's getting louder… I can't hear myself… grrrrrraaaaaaaah!", Saikuron's chakra picked up tremendous speed as it formed an aura around his body, and he let loose a howl that shook the building.

Naruto changed into his Nine Tails chakra mode, and spoke to Kurama in his mind, "We can't hurt him, but we won't win if we hold back…"

Kurama agreed, "I'll help you take him down, but don't cry if he gets a little roughed up"

Saikuron bared his fangs and yelled in a distorted voice, "Neither you nor the Nine Tails will stop me!"

Kurama was confused, "Is that him or the tailed beast speaking?"

"Silence, Nine Tails! Get out of my way or I'll make you!"

Naruto took a stance, "You're not going anywhere!"

Saikuron closed the distance between them faster than Naruto could process, delivering a blow to the center of his chest and knocking him over, "Stay down"

Naruto recovered as quickly as possible and swiped at his feet, "Not without a fight!"

Saikuron jumped into the air and brought his left foot down hard. Naruto blocked it with his arms, but the floor beneath him shattered and he fell through it. Saikuron began flashing his hands rapidly, right up until Naruto jumped through the hole and was within a foot of his face, where he stopped, "Absolute Style: Total Chakra control"

Naruto fell to the floor, his body paralyzed, "What… is… this?!"

"Using an extremely specific number of hand seals in a very particular order, I pinpointed a single nerve in your spine and I'm currently holding it with no more chakra than that which can be held by my index finger. If I pushed any harder, your heart would stop"

Naruto groaned from the floor, "I've never heard of a jutsu like that"

"It can only be done by someone who's studied the human body meticulously, is fast enough to perform a hundred hand seals in less than two minutes, and someone that has a natural ability to use all five styles of chakra"

"Damn it…"

"Not even the Nine Tails can get you out of this bind, you're at my complete mercy"

"Is this what you want? To kill me?"

"No, I don't want to kill you, or anyone else, for that matter. A life is something best left in the hands of its original owner"

"Then what…? What do you intend to do with all that power?"

"I want… Ino. Fear is knowing you aren't prepared to face what's coming…"

"And this power makes you feel prepared?"

"N-No…", his aura began to fade, "I… I just don't want to… to fail…", he fell to his knees and released his hold on Naruto, "Why is my head so messed up? I'm such a coward… such a damned idiot!"

Naruto put his hand on Saikuron's shoulder, "Everyone's an idiot when they love someone. They don't know what to say or what to do, they just know what they feel"

"… How am I supposed to do this…?"

"Does she know how you feel?"

"I haven't told her… at least, not directly"

"Why don't you try that?"

"Because I would crumple like a wet paper bag if I put myself on the spot like that…"

"Then have courage. Do it, even if you're terrified. No matter what happens, it'll be better than tormenting yourself over it"

"It will?"

"Of course. Tell you what, the next time you see her, do what comes naturally, I garuntee it will be better than just trying not to push her away"

Ino burst through the door, "What was that-"

Whatever she was going to say next, she forgot all about it, as Saikuron quickly stole a kiss from her without giving her a second to push him away. When he pulled back, his face was so red that it could've replaced a large Christmas light, and he dashed off, leaving nothing but a confused Ino and a trail of dust.

Naruto was a bit surprised, "Wow… I didn't expect that"

Ino tried to form words as she began blushing, "Wha-… how-…"

"He did what came naturally… then freaked out and panicked"

Ino was still trying to put her thoughts together when Kakashi entered the room, "Is everyone in here alright?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head, "I'm fine… Ino's a little confused"

Kakashi looked at Ino, "Are you alright?"

Ino stood there, trying to decide if she was or not, as she thought about how strangely wonderful her first kiss was.

Kakashi snapped his fingers, "Hey, Ino! You should go home and get some rest, we'll track him down tomorrow"

Ino nodded, "Y-Yes, Kakashi"

* * *

Ino tried to decide where her head was at as she opened her front door, finding a huge number of medical herbs and remedies all over the place, "Dad… what's all this?"

Inoichi rubbed the back of his head, "Well, Saikuron asked if there was anything I needed, because he had some energy he needed to get rid of and running is good exercise, so I told him a few of our medicinal herbs had run out… but this was more than I anticipated"

"He was here?"

"Yes, why?"

"I just… nothing. Do you have any idea where he went?"

"He told me that since he had restocked the cabinet, he was going to work on his chakra control"

"Did he say where?"

"He said something about a waterfall, but I'm not sure-"

"Thanks, dad!"

"Hey, where are you going?"

Ino blushed a little bit, "There's something I need to tell him"

Ino's mother gasped, "Oh, my goodness, Ino! Go! He already did your chores while he was here, go on!"

Ino dashed off, leaving Inoichi confused, "I feel as though I've missed something important…"

* * *

Saikuron let the water pound on his body, the crashing of the water as it hit the rocks being completely blocked out by his mental wall. His chakra, left unstopped, would have flown through him like a flood, but through his intense training, he had mastered the ability to force the flow down to a normal one. His sense of sound, touch, and sight were completely blocked out as he focused on his inner power.

Or at least, that's what he was attempting to do. In the black nothingness that was supposed to be his innermost thoughts, he found that he wasn't alone. Every time he silenced the outside world, he could hear it. As his body went numb, his lips began to tingle. The darkness provided by his eyelids was countered as her bright image appeared in his brain. It was impossible, his mind was so absorbed with Ino that he couldn't focus on his chakra.

He stepped of the waterfall to clear his mind, the cool night breeze felt wonderful against his bare skin. He put his clothes on and looked at the top of the waterfall, maybe if he shoved his head in that current, he could shift his thoughts. No, if he did that, he'd probably get a little more than a mouthful of water.

His attention shifted as his senses became aware of his surrounding and felt the presence of someone he didn't know, "Who's there?!"

A teenager with sharp, black hair and black eyes stepped out of a tree, "I could ask the same thing. This is my waterfall, find another one"

Saikuron felt a shiver go up his spine as his mouth moved on its own, "Tuning out the world isn't good for you. Let the voices in your head be words of wisdom to use, not to brood over alone"

"You're starting to irritate me, leave"

He wasn't sure how the words emerged in his mind, they just did, like the voice in his head had guided his mind to tell him to say them, "Don't put me off until next time, Sasuke"

Sasuke's eyes grew wide, "Who are you? And how do you know my name?"

"He told me…", Saikuron felt his mouth come back under his control as a new voice whispered in his head, "… Itachi"

Sasuke's eyes became his eternal sharingan as anger welled up inside him, "You shut your damned mouth about! You aren't worthy of saying his name!"

Saikuron heard as the voice spoke became more clear, "He says… you weren't supposed to know the truth… that it left a scar on your heart… and for that he's truly sorry"

Sasuke gathered his chakra as lightning sparked around his hand, "You say one more thing, like you could've even pretended to know him… and I'll blow you apart!"

"Don't let the hate rule you, Sasuke"

Sasuke shouted as he brought his hand to Saikuron's chest, "Chidori!"

The immense blast of lightning that shot from Sasuke's hand was powerful enough to obliterate the trees in front of him, nearly six meters beyond his target. But they didn't stop those two fingers from touching his forehead, "He still loves you, Sasuke, don't forget that"

Sasuke felt his eyes tear up, "Why…? Why are you tormenting me…? He's gone, why would you haunt me with his words…?"

Saikuron looked Sasuke in the eye, "I'm not trying to torment you, I'm just telling you what his chakra says. That chakra that takes up a big part of your heart, it's from him, and he wanted you to know what I told you, even beyond his life's limits"

"And I'm supposed to believe that you can hear his chakra?!"

Saikuron heard another voice tear into his thoughts, "I can hear yours, too. The pain you suffered… the hatred you feel… the power you control… it's all in here", he pointed to his head.

"I don't believe you!"

"Then how did I evade your Chidori? If I couldn't feel the exact points where your chakra was going to strike, I would've been fried"

"Avaid this! Amaterasu!"

As the black inferno began chasing him, Saikuron evaded them. even though they would follow him relentlessly, he didn't feel their burn as he kept his feet moving, "It will never reach me before it goes out"

"We'll see!"

"This fire burns for three days and nights, how long can you control it?"

Sasuke's resolve began to waver as he began to feel the stress of the jutsu on his body. He had no choice but to release it, "Agh!"

Saikuron held a cloth below Sasuke's eye, wiping the blood away, "You shouldn't push yourself too hard, you'll hurt yourself"

"What do you want?"

"From you, nothing"

"Then why did you pick a fight with me?"

"I didn't, I just told you what I heard, what Itachi was telling me to say"

"You weren't lying about that?"

"I wish I was. Sometimes you just want all of the voices you hear to get pushed out, so that you can hear yourself think. That's why I was here, the waterfall was supposed to help push the voices out"

Sasuke stood up, "I can't imagine that water falling against rocks, no matter how loud, could push a voice out of your mind"

"You're right, it doesn't, but it's good for-", Saikuron stopped as his eyes grew wide, "-chakra... control..."

Sasuke watched as Saikuron's eyes changed to a purple color, "What are you doing?"

Saikuron pulled a sealing tag out of his pocket and slapped it on his chest, "Just... ignore it... it'll go away"

"You must have a ton of chakra, for the tag to react so violently"

"I keep it suppressed... because it makes the voices louder..."

"What do the voices say?"

"It doesn't matter, they don't get what they want, not as long as I have anything to say about it"

"Wouldn't pushing them out be easier if someone else did it for you?"

"No, I've tried that, I've been hit with every genjutsu I can think of to get rid of it, but nothing works"

"Have you tried the eternal sharingan?"

"I can't say I have, but I doubt it will work"

"Don't underestimate my power"

"I can't underestimate your power, I can see it"

Sasuke stared directly into his eyes, "This will change your mind!"

Saikuron's huge eyes didn't blink as he stared back, "No, it won't"

Sasuke felt his entire body become motionless, "I-Impossible!"

"There is no genjutsu strong enough to penetrate my mind, not even the sharingan. I appreciate the gesture, but I can handle it. Go, you had other plans tonight, didn't you?"

Sasuke, still in shock from what had happened, left without a word. Saikuron began to examine his chakra in detail, and he found that he had rapidly gained a very large amount in the time he spent listening to Itachi's voice. He walked over to a patch of grass and began expelling the chakra from his body, letting it flow into the earth and make it better. In seconds, he was surrounded by beautiful flowers in full blossom. He opened his eyes and let out a sigh, now he was back in full control of himself and could hear his thoughts.

At least, until he turned around and saw Ino standing less than ten feet away, "I-Ino! H-Hi! D-Did you come to look for me?"

Ino looked at the circle of flowers behind him, "Yeah, how did you do that?"

"C-Chakra release. Since chakra comes from life, giving up chakra is like feeding life into the earth"

"That's cool! It must take a lot of chakra to make beautiful flowers like these"

"Y-Yeah, a ton"

"So... when you kissed me earlier... I didn't expect that"

Saikuron felt his thoughts and emotions spiral out of control, all the while trying to put up a normal expression, "Um... I just... did... what felt right"

Ino hid her blush from Saikuron as she stared at the flowers, "D-Did you like it...?"

Ino wished she had come up with something at least a little better, until Saikuron responded, "I-It was my first, so yeah, I did"

"..."

"...", Saikuron wasn't sure what he should say, not that Ino was any less clueless. The two of them were racking their brains for words, but they weren't coming up with anything.

Saikuron was almost relieved when Lee jumped in from the trees, "Saikuron! Are you out here to get in some extra training as well?!"

"K-Kinda..."

"Then we will train together! I will climb the sheer rock wall while you run up it on foot!"

Ino smacked the back of Lee's head, "Nobody trains this late but you, Lee! I thought you had spent all day training with Guy, anyway!"

"I am sorry, Ino! I didn't mean to disturb you! I simply thought that Saikuron would wish to burn some energy!"

"Who on earth burns energy by doing the insane stuff you do?!"

"I-I'm sorry... I will leave now"

Saikuron patted Lee on the shoulder, "I'll join you in a minute, why don't you go ahead and start without me?"

Lee gave him a thumbs up and ran off. Ino sighed, "How can you train with him?"

"Lee has a handicap that no other ninja does, it's amazing to see him fight through it, against all odds"

"No, I meant physically, how can you do the stuff he does?"

"I trained for a long time in the harshest conditions you can imagine, training with Lee in good conditions is a blessing"

"That makes me wonder about where you trained before..."

"My last training session with the Raikage was out at sea. I was to sit in the middle of the ocean for as long as I possibly could without moving, then once I was done, he and I had a match, as master and student, to see how far I had come"

"How long did you sit?"

"A month, but since he got a day off early, he cut my endurance training short"

"A month?!"

"Yeah, it was boring, but I'm stronger because of it, so I don't regret it"

"What about food? Water? How did you survive without any of that?!"

"Chakra. It's the energy of life, so all I did was feed off of it"

"Nobody has that much chakra!"

"I didn't need to. The ocean, the fish that live in it, they produce just enough chakra for a person to live off of"

"Woah... did you beat the Raikage?"

"Our match was canceled, instead, I fought against his brother, Bee"

"The Eight Tails jinchuriki?!"

"Yeah, that's him. He told me I should come to the Hidden Leaf, that I would find it to be a great place. I gotta say, he was right"

"You really like the Hidden Leaf?"

"Well, it's where I met you", with that, he took off, "Sorry! I can't keep Lee waiting!"

"That guy's bad news", Ino turned around to see Sasuke standing behind her.

"Sasuke?! What are you talking about?"

"He looked directly into my eternal sharingan... and he didn't even blink"

"You're just jealous because he's stronger than you!"

"Maybe I am, it doesn't change the facts. The tailed beasts cannot resist the sharingan, so what does that make him?"

"A ninja that's very good with genjutsu!"

"… Believe what you want, I'll be keeping a close eye on him", with a turn and a leap, Sasuke was gone, and Ino was alone again. She felt better as she went home, at least with Saikuron's promise to return, her mind would be at ease.

* * *

Lee smiled as he and Saikuron both broke a boulder in half using their bare knuckles, "It is good to meet someone that is just as hard-working as me! I must admit, most people would refuse my intense training regiment!"

Saikuron smiled back, "It's important to push yourself, even when things seem all good, there will always be room for improvement"

"That is a good way to view things! Although, it seems that now is the time to stop!"

Saikuron looked at the sky, "Only six hours until dawn… Lee, you really should sleep more"

"I cannot restrain myself when it comes to my training!"

"But when you sleep, your body recuperates and builds muscle, sleeping is actually when you build most of your muscle"

"Then I will be sure to get a full seven hours of sleep tomorrow!"

"Maybe you should shoot for eight…"

"Saikuron! I forgot to ask you before, but why is it you don't use your jutsu very often? Most ninja use their jutsus very often when carrying out tasks, yet I have only seen you use yours in a state of emergency"

"Well, I can't say those were my jutsus, because I didn't develope of inherit any of them. To be honest, I only have three jutsus I've never seen anybody else use before"

"If I may be so bold as to ask, what are they?"

"Um… it's difficult to describe them… the first one allows me to see and feel chakra around me. You know, Lee, I know that you can't use gen or ninjutsu, why is that?"

"My 'chakra coils' are underdeveloped, so my ability to do either of those two are hindered to a halt…"

"Without being able to produce and control much chakra, I can imagine why that would be. Hey Lee, if I use my first jutsu, I might be able to work your chakra coils, encouraging them to develope"

"You think you can enable me to use ninjutsu?!"

"It might take some time, and I doubt it'll be enough for any complex jutsus, but it's worth a try"

"Taijutsu is my life, but if you would gift me with the ability to use ninjutsu or genjutsu, I would not reject it! Let us begin!"

Saikuron smiled, then placed his hands together. He quickly thrust them outward, "Chakra Manifestation Mode!", his eyes became purple as he became able to sense all forms of chakra and it's nature for about a mile, "Okay, Lee, I'm going to inject some chakra into you, then I will strike at you. Try to use the Replacement Technique to counter me and land a blow on me"

"I will attempt it, but I have never done this before…"

"You'll want to counter me using your regular Taijutsu, but you can't let yourself fall short. I'll help you control it if you need me to, whatever you do, focus on the technique. We can do this as long as it takes, just relax and focus" Saikuron placed his left hand on Lee's chest and began slowly dripping just enough chakra for one replacement technique.

Once all of the chakra had been pumped in, Lee felt better than he ever had before, "This is amazing!"

"Chakra is the force of life, it make you feel alive. Maybe one day you'll grow enough to create it on your own, but for right now, you need to focus on the technique"

Lee nodded, "Come at me!"

And he did, Saikuron went to strike at Lee with blinding speed, and Lee blocked him just as fast. Saikuron sighed, "It's alright Lee, that was the first try, we can keep going!"

Lee held his fist up, "And so we shall!"

* * *

Guy began to sweat, Lee had never once, in his entire life, missed a session of training, especially in the morning. The rising sun always marked Lee's early morning run. He had looked all over the village and in the usual training spots, but Lee was nowhere to be found. He was running through the forest when he heard a shout, "Once more!"

Guy peeked through the bushes and sensed the faint amount of chakra coming from Lee. He started to wonder if he was dreaming as he watched Saikiron go to strike Lee, and then Lee countered him… by using the Replacement Technique! He successfully threw Saikuron off-balance and knocking him into the dirt.

Saikuron jumped up with a huge smile on his face, "You did it, Lee! You really did it!"

Lee had tears in his eyes, "I did it! I performed an ninjutsu! This is one of the greatest days of my life! I only wish Guy sensei could've seen it!"

"You earned it, Lee! In just six hours, you did the impossible!"

Guy jumped out of the bushes, his eyes tearing up as he hugged Lee, "That was great Lee! I am so proud of you!"

Lee cried with him, "Thank you, Guy sensei! I will always treasure this day as the day I learned to use the replacement technique! Thank you so much as well, Saikuron!"

Saikuron was passed out in the grass, but he lifted his head, "Yeah… anytime…"

"Are you alright?"

"Sorry, Chakra Manifestation mode is really draining… it would take a massive amount of chakra to use it without being tired… I'm afraid I can't train right now… I need to rest"

"Well, that should make my job easy, then", Lee turned to see Tenmari standing behind him, "Saikuron, of the Hidden Mist, I've come to take you to a meeting. I was informed I could use force if necessary, but since you're already passed out-"

Saikuron stood up, "Don't bother, I can walk. Lee, I'll train with you some more tomorrow, alright? I think that we'll get you doing it by yourself in no time"

"Doing what?"

Lee held his fist up with excitement, "With some slight assistance, I, Rock Lee, have performed the Replacement Technique!"

Tenmari's eyes went side as she eyed the log a few yards away, "I thought Lee couldn't use ninjutsu?"

Lee smiled, "Saikuron is helping me develope my chakra coils do that I may control my chakra!"

Tenmari rubbed her chin, "Is that even possible?"

Saikuron groggily stood by Lee, "I stimulated his chakra coils by injecting some chakra into his body through them. With a little guidance, and a lot of determination, Lee was able to mould his chakra normally, and use the technique"

"How did you inject him with chakra?"

"Special technique"

"I've never heard of a technique that can do that"

"It must be an inherited jutsu…"

"Did your parents ever use it?"

"… No, I can't say they did"

"Where did you learn to use it?"

"I… didn't learn it anywhere"

"Then how did you know how to use it?"

"… S-Stop staring at me, we need to get going"

Tenmari began to become suspicious, but she couldn't focus on Saikuron while Guy was yelling, "Tonight, we will wildly celebrate your success, Lee! It will be a party of the ages!"

* * *

Tenmari sighed, "At least he made this easy…"

Kankuro looked at the sleeping Saikuron, "This is the guy that was going toe-to-toe with Naruto?"

"I have no idea how strong he is, but it appears he assisted Rock Lee in performing ninjutsu"

"But, Lee can't use ninjutsu"

"With his assistance, Lee performed the replacement technique"

Saikuron opened his eyes, "All I did was give him a small push, Lee was the one who did all the work"

"I doubt Lee could've done it on his own"

"He may not have fully developed chakra coils, but I don't think that will stop Lee. Hell, if anything can stop Lee, I'd sure like to know what it is"

"If you refused to continue helping him, he would have no way to work his chakra coils"

"I couldn't do that to Lee. Besides, at this rate, it will only be a matter of days before Lee will be able to create chakra on his own, even if it's only a little at first. But that's not why I'm here, is it?"

"No, it isn't", the room fell silent as Gaara made his presence known, "I understand you are tired, but there is something we must discuss"

Saikuron sat up and looked at Gaara's face, "What is it?"

"During a recent fight with a friend of mine, you displayed jinchuriki-like strength, how did you do this?"

"It wasn't a conscious action, the chakra was collected rapidly and I was unable to suppress it"

"Collected?"

"I didn't create the chakra that formed the aura around me, it was an accumulation of extra chakra. Any chakra that wasn't being used or was just floating through the village came to me at once. Once it was all in my system, it threw my self-control into the wind"

"You are telling me that you were put into this state without warning, and that once it had occurred, you had no means of stopping it?"

"I'm not going to lie to try and make it sound better. What happened, happened, but I will not spend the rest of my life locked up in a cage because of it"

"While you are revealing yourself to be a danger, I have no intentions to lock you away where you would be hidden from the world. I was simply making sure the intel I had been given was legitimate before I allowed her to proceed"

"Her?"

The door behind Gaara swung open, revealing a beautiful, young woman with black hair and red eyes, "Little bro! It's been forever!"

Saikuron raised his eyebrow, "Kirin? What are you doing here?"

Gaara answered calmly, "As you are aware, Kirin is a jounin under the Hidden Sand, she is a very gifted shinobi. Once a report had come in from the Hidden Leaf about a mysterious stranger causing a scene, she identified the stranger to be you, and informed me that she needed to visit you"

Kirin held her thumb up, "Since you were supposed to bei under arrest, Gaara agreed to officially hold a meeting with you. That way, I could visit!"

Saikuron looked away from her, "I'm fine, as you can see"

Kirin shook her head, "You won't get rid of me that easily! From now until I say so, you're gonna be under my supervision!"

Saikuron stood up and began to walk towards the opposite door, "That's not gonna happen, good day, Gaara"

Tenmari blocked his path, "Either she's with you or I am, and trust me, she'll be a whole lot nicer"

Saikuron grabbed Tenmari's hand gently, "Then let's go"

Tenmari was too taken aback to pull away as Saikuron dragged her through the hall. Back in the meeting room, Gaara was starting to sweat, "I thought you said he would agree peacefully?"

Kirin was trying not to cry, "I thought he would… that was so cold…"

"Is there any particular reason he wouldn't want to see you?"

"Wel, I screwed things up between him and his girlfriend a few years ago pretty badly, but it's not like I can do that now, right?"

Gaara placed his hand over his face, "He's currently staying in the Yamanaka household, with Ino Yamanaka, a girl who is his age"

Kirin's eyes lit up, "Oh… my… god! Saikuron's got a girlfriend! Where can I find her?! I need to meet her, now!"


	3. Chapter 3

Tenmari was surprised, for having dragged her around the Hidden Leaf Village, Saikuron wasn't half bad. Though he initially was sleepy, he shook it off and was a very caring gentleman for the rest of their tour. He had taken her to every shop she wanted to see, bought her lunch, and even carried all her stuff for her. Tenmari was used to intimidating most men, so she never really felt feminine, but Saikuron wasn't afraid of her in the least, so she actually felt like a girl.

He didn't try to hold her hand or put his arm over her, either, so she knew that he still had respect for her. She liked that, respected, not feared. She looked at him and smiled, "You know, for a guy that just spent six hours training, you've been very helpful"

Saikuron smiled back, "Well, I dragged you away from your other work, so this is the least I can do. Besides, not being helpful because it's difficult is the same as being a burden because it's easy"

Tenmari really liked that advice, "Who said that? I want to know, so I can quote them later"

"I did, just now"

She playfully punched his shoulder, "No, idoit, I meant, what famous ninja"

"I don't know if a famous ninja ever said it or not, but my brother once said it"

"You have a lot of syblings, don't you?"

"Not by blood, but I do have a couple I met at the orphanage"

Tenmari felt bad for steering the conversation that way, "So, Kirin isn't really your sister?"

"Not physically, but I still count her as my family"

"Then why did you run away from her earlier?"

"Because Kirin is like real family, she has her moments... and then there's the rest of the time"

"You make her sound terrible! She's an amazing shinobi!"

"How well do you know her?"

"Well... not very well, personally"

"Kirin has a very bad habbit of trying to interfere in the romantic lives of everyone she's close too. She doesn't mean to cause trouble, but then again, good intentions pave the road to hell..."

"How bad could it be?"

"When I was twelve, she convinced my girlfriend that dressing me up as a girl would be a fun idea. Then she insisted my girlfriend suprise me with a trip to a local sushi reasturaunt. My girlfriend decided not to seperate these two events. I spent a week burning all evidence it ever happened, didn't speak to her for a month, and eventually, broke up with my girlfriend"

"Whoa... that is bad...", Tenmari tried to hold back, but some part of her brain enjoyed the freedom of being a normal girl so much that she blurted it out, "Did you make a cute girl?"

Saikuron's head hung low as the color drained from his face, "Please... don't make me visualize it...she was drunk, too, so I'm trying to forgive her"

"Sorry! I didn't mean to ask, it just kind of slipped out!"

"I'm just going to ignore the question. So, is there anything else you need to buy?"

"No, that's all of it. It's wierd, shopping usually takes a lot longer than this... that's what I forgot!"

"What is it?"

"Clothes! Duh! Oh wait...", she looked at her purse, "...I'm out of cash..."

Saikuron tried to lighten her mood, "Here, I'll pay for them, and you can pay me back later, okay?"

Tenmari was a little intimidated by the offer, she had never had a stranger pay her tab before, and she had CERTIANLY never had a boy pay for her clothes before. But there was at least two dresses she had been dying to buy for weeks... she couldn't resist, "O-Okay. T-Thanks"

As the reached the store, Saikuron handed her his wallet and stood by the door, "Here you go. I'll wait out here"

"You aren't coming in?"

"I wasn't going to, why? Do you want me to?"

Tenmari told herself she could do this, she was tough, smart, and certainly capable of being completely honest about her feelings, "M-Maybe you could help me decide on something..."

While Tenmari felt as though she had suffered a crushing defeat, Saikuron did as she asked, "Sure thing"

As they walked in, a familiar face greeted them from behind the counter, "Oh, hey Tenmari!", Tenten waved at her from behind the counter, then noticed her company, "Saikuron? What are you doing here?"

Tenmari tried to answer with posture, "He's assisting me in the purchase of a few dresses, is that a problem?"

Tenten sweated, "N-No... but do you mind if I talk to you real fast, Tenmari?"

Tenmari walked over to the counter, where she and Tenten started to whisper, "What?"

"Why are you buying clothes with Saikuron?!"

"I have to watch him, and he insisted that he help me with my shopping"

"That doesn't explain anything! Why did you bring him here?!"

Tenmari felt herself start to blush a little bit, "I ran out of money... he's paying for the clothes, and I'm going to pay him back later..."

Tenten pieced it together, "Tenmari... you like him!"

Tenmari leaned in, until she was right next to Tenten's ear, "If you tell anyone, so help me god, I will find you and tear you limb from limb"

"Um... Ino might have something to say about that...", Tenten pointed behind Tenmari, who turned around to see Ino, who was entering the changing room.

Tenmari felt herself sweat, "Ino also likes him?!"

"He's staying at her house, her father invited him"

"Hm... what am I going to do?!"

"Why not just let Ino try to date him?"

"No! You don't get it! My entire life, I've been a scary shinobi that works hard and acts tough, but Saikuron... he doesn't make me feel like that! I feel... like a girl... for once..."

Tenten knew how it felt to not get to be a girl, but she also didn't want to hurt Ino's chances, "Well... crap... can you at least talk with Ino about it? I mean, they aren't dating or anything, but I can't imagine Ino would appreciate you just asking him out..."

Tenmari nodded, "Alright"

She turned to see Saikuron holding up a wavy, blue dress, "Hey, Tenmari, do you like this one? This shade would look good on you"

Tenmari hadn't seen the dress before, but it did look amazing, "Wow! Where did you find that dress?!"

Saikuron smiled as he handed it to her, "With four sisters, if I couldn't find good clothes, birthdays would be the death of me"

"Oh... that makes sense"

"Why don't you try it on? I'm sure it would look beautiful on you"

Tenmari felt herself blush, it was the first time in her life someone had ever told her she was beautiful without a reason to. Her moment was cut short as she saw Ino exit the changing room, "Um, hey, could you go find a pair of shoes to go with it?"

Saikuron nodded, "Sure thing"

As he walked off, Tenmari quickly made her way to the dressing room and bumped into Ino, "Ino? Is that you?"

Ino thought it was a genuine accident, "Tenmari? It's been a long time since I've seen you! That dress looks amazing! Can I see what you look like in it?"

Tenmari mentally slapped herself, "Um... do you have to?"

"Why not? I'm sure it would look great on you!"

Tenmari quickly walked into the dressing room and changed. Looking in the mirror, she was stunned at how she looked; she really was beautiful. While it was true she liked to dress up sometimes and try to be pretty, she had never really found a dress that made her feel... beautiful before. For a moment, she hesitated to leave the changing room, her feminine side was something she usually kept to herself. Eventually, she did manage to step out, and she immediately felt the need to go back in.

Unfortunately, Ino wasn't going to let that happen, "Oh, my goodness, Tenmari! You look absolutely stunning!"

"D-Don't stare at me like that... you're making me feel uncomfortable..."

"Why? You look totally amazing! Where did you find that dress?"

"I didn't, a friend of mine found it"

"Please have your friend help me! I've been looking all day, but I can't find anything!"

"H-He can't! He's uh, busy!"

Ino became suspicious, "Tenmari... you're nervous... you're never nervous... oh, my god, you have a hot guy with you, don't you?!"

"N-No! I just wanted to do some shopping, and he's stuck with me today..."

"And he found you that dress?! My god, he must've undressed you with his eyes, I never would've been able to guess that dress would look that amazing!"

Tenmari turned red at the thought of being undressed in Saikuron's head, then she turned red even more when she saw him behind her, holding a wonder pair of blue shoes, "Hey, I finally found a pair, and they were on sale. You look great in that... oh, hi Ino"

Tenmari was so absorbed with what Ino said, she felt absolutely paralyzed as Saikuron looked her over. She dashed back into the changing room, "Stop staring at me you sick pervert!"

Ino and Saikuron were confused, so Ino started, "Saikuron? What are you doing here? Are you here with Tenmari?"

Saikuron tried to shake the feeling he'd done something horribly wrong, "Yeah, this morning, she got stuck as my guard, so I promised to help her finish her shopping. Although, I have no idea why she called me a pervert..."

"Are you the one who picked out her dress?"

"Yep, it was hidden underneath some other ones"

"Well, since it's hard to get a read on her body through all her regular clothes, I might've said you probably undressed her with your eyes..."

Tenmari listened in on them, "Oh, that makes sense. Not that I would ever do that to someone, because that's a horrible and very creepy thing to do to someone"

"Yeah, I can't see you doing that to somebody... oh, could you help me pick out a dress?"

"Sure, what's the occassion?"

"Lee's guy's throwing Lee a party, get this, Lee was able to use a ninjutsu!"

"Really? You don't say?"

Tenmari was surprised that Saikuron wasn't attempting to reveal what he'd done, but then she remembered that he had a phobia of the spotlight, "Yeah! Appearantly, a sage of pure chakra was able to work his chakra coils! Now, with enough training, he'll be able to use ninjutsu and genjutsu, just like everyone else!"

"If you ask me, Lee will probably use that extra chakra just to further his taijutsu"

"You know, you're probably right, but still, for Lee to have that option, it's like he just climbed to the top of the world"

"I am happy for him, Lee must feel great"

"I can't wait to meet this sage at the party!"

Saikuron's face cracked for a microsecond, only Tenmari saw his utter dispair, "The sage is going be the guest of honor! Guy said he had a huge speech prepared for him and everything!"

"H-He didn't say what the sage's name was, did he?"

"No! But he must be incredible if Guy actually wrote something for him!"

Saikuron imagined all of those people he didn't know, all watching him. Then, with a straight face, he entered Tenmari's changing room, where his expression changed to one even more scared than Tenmari's, who was only half done changing. She whispered in a quiet, white rage, "Why did you come in here?!"

He whispered with absolute terror, "Please, I beg you with all my heart, don't force me to go to that party! I will give you anything you want, just help me!"

"Anything?"

"Anything! Just don't let me go to that party tonight!"

"I think I can help you, but you'll have to follow my lead"

"Thank you so much!"

"Thank me later, just get out!"

Ino stared at him with surprise and a bit of anger as he walked out, "Um… Saikuron? That's Tenmari's changing room… that you just walked out of"

"Yeah, she asked me to hand her the shoes"

"You couldn't have done that without going in?"

"Oh… yeah, I guess I could've"

Tenmari stepped out in her normal attire, "Hey, Ino, will you tell Lee I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the party? Me and Saikuron have to return to the Hidden Sand tonight"

"Why does Saikuron have to go with you?"

"Official business of the Hidden Sand, I'm not allowed to tell you"

"Oh… be safe, alright, Saikuron?"

Saikuron smiled at her and held his thumb up, "I promise, I'll be back soon"

"Okay, see you later then"

"Don't be sad, I'll be back"

As they walked out, Tenmari sighed, "Now that we've dealt with our cover for the Leaf, all that's left is to convince Gaara that you need to come back with us"

"Not to be rude, but I hope you have a good plan devised to trick the Kazekage"

* * *

"He taking me on a date tonight, so he'll be coming with us back to the village", Tenmari spoke with a slight blush and couldn't look her brothers in the eye, and Kankuro was certianly in total shock.

Gaara was as expressionless as always, "Very well. Kankuro, Tenmari, I need you to prepare the paperwork that we'll need to start once we get back. Saikuron, if you could stay, there's something I'd like to ask you"

Tenmari and Kankuro left, as Saikuron put up a brave face to hide his nervousness, "What did you want to ask me?"

Gaara motioned towards the chair in front of his desk, "Have a seat", Saikuron took a seat as Gaara looked at him, "You intend on taking Tenmari on a date?"

"Yes"

"Does Ino know about this date?"

"No"

"Are you cheating on Ino with Tenmari?"

"No. Cheating is for pathetic, spineless cowards"

"But, you are dating Ino?"

"No..."

"Do you like her?"

"Yes"

"Then why are you going on a date with Tenmari? She is a fair judge of character, but if you are using her, in any way, she won't be the only person you have to fear"

"Wait, hold on, because I think you have the wrong impression about all of this...", Saikuron did his best to clear up the situation, "... and that's how it happened"

Gaara nodded, "I see. So, it wasn't you that asked Tenmari out, it was Tenmari that asked you, through a surprise plan. I'm not quite sure if I believe you or not"

"What? How could I make that up? And what would a lie like that even do for me, anyway?"

"The redicoulusness of it gives it some credibility, but Tenmari has never once been on a date in her life, ever. The idea that she would go on one, let alone, ask someone on one, is a bit far-fetched"

"Why?"

"Her romantic life is non-existant"

"Says who?", Tenmari and Kankuro peeked in through the door, "She's a person, she deserves to be happy! The fact she hasn't persued it doesn't mean she never will, it just means she hasn't found the right path to follow yet"

"And you believe you can be her path?"

"Maybe! I don't know! That's what the date is for, to see if I can make her happy!'

Tenmari was impressed as she watched him talk, because she had seen just how absolutely terrifying it was for him to be the elephant in the room, yet he held nothing back as he spoke. Gaara smiled and nodded, "I had no doubt of Tenmari's judge of character, I was simply curious to see what you were like. Have fun on your date tonight"

Saikuron's seriousness broke, "Actually, I was hoping you could help me out... you see... I've never been to the Hidden Sand village before, so... I have no clue where to take her for the date"

"I see... I can provide you with a map of the area, would that be sufficient?"

Tenmari sighed, there was more to a date than just location, didn't Gaara know that? "Yeah, thanks!"

Kankuro felt the urge to tease his sister overcome his desire not to be hit, "That's a real keeper you got there, sis"

Tenmari punched him in the face, "Shut up, Kankuro!"

As they set off, Tenmari watched as Gaara and Saikuron talked behind her and Kankuro. Kankuro watched as well, "I've never seen Gaara talk so much... what do you think they're talking about?"

Tenmari couldn't begin to fathom it, "I have no idea... but I am curious"

Kankuro spoke up, "Hey, Gaara, whatcha talking about back there?"

Garra responded calmly, "Diversion tactics"

"Diversion tactics?"

"Yes, Saikuron has a vast knowledge of many forms of genjutsu that are foreign to me, we were discussing whether or not he could provide a small lesson to a few of our shinobi"

Saikuron smiled nervously, "No, I don't think I could be a teacher..."

"I was telling him that we could have a ninja pretend to be him, under the guise of a body transformation jutsu, but that doesn't ease his mind"

"I'd rather not be the focus of a classroom"

"Then perhaps you could teach one of our teachers...", the conversation trailed on, as they went back and forth on ways to overcome Saikuron's shy nature. Tenmari listened in, but only a little, her mind was mostly taken with a question she'd ignored until now: If he's so shy, why was he so normal with her?

* * *

Kankuro looked through his binoculars, then signaled his team. They were going to remain in place as they retained visual on their target. Kankuro had never before seen an opponent he could consider so powerful, yet so cunning… he could only begin to fathom a inkling of an idea of how Saikuron had gotten a date with Tenmari.

To be honest, he didn't think there was a man alive who had the guts to do it. Tenmari was a beautiful girl, sure, but never once in his life had he seen her act like one. Her vulnerable side was, to the best of his knowledge, non-existent. Tenmari was always the leader of the group, she would never bow out to anyone, unless they were more equipped for the task at hand than she was. The thought she would place her trust into someone else with no idea how it might turn out… he wouldn't have dreamed of it.

Another thing he never would have dreamed of happened right before his eyes as he saw Tenmari step out onto the roof. The way her dress waved in the wind as she walked, her hair hanging behind her, even her make-up was absolutely perfect. If he had seen her walking down the street and was told she was Tennari, he would've called whoever told him that crazy.

Tenmari herself was a bit surprised by her boldness as she looked at Saikuron, who was facing the view from the railing, "I-I'm here…"

Saikuron turned around to look at her, "You look beautiful"

Tenmari felt herself blush,"T-Thank you..."

Saikuron waved her to the railing, "Come here, there's something I want you to see"

Tenmari looked at the view, as Kazekage, the top of Gaara's house would definately have the best view of the village, but it was nothing new to her, "Um... I've seen it before..."

He tried to keep her mind open, "Here, close your eyes"

She wasn't sure why, but she did so, "Okay... what now?"

"Just keep them closed... okay, now look"

Tenmari opened her eyes, and she was surprised, the way the sun set over the sand changed the color of it, the entire village looked magical. She remembered the last time she had seen it, the last time she really looked at the sand when it was beautiful like this, back before she made herself be tough all the time. She smiled as a happy tear formed in her eye, "Wow..."

Saikuron smiled, too, "It's the second most beautiful thing I've seen all day." Tenmari turned to look at him, his gentle gaze cast on a ball of clay in his hand.

Tenmari looked at the clay, "What's that?"

He began to shape it in his hands, "It's called chakra clay, it molds itself to the holder's will", to prove his point, he held up a rose, "See? Here, give it a try"

He handed her the rose, it was beautiful, yet the texture of it was strangly tough, "How do I do it?"

"Just think about something, and then relate it to the clay"

"So, you just though about a flower?"

"No, I was thinking about you. Beautiful, yet strong, like the flower"

Tenmari blushed, "I-I think I'll keep it the way it is..."

He took her hand and led her to a small table with two chairs and a candle on the table. He pulled out her chair and she took a seat, then he lit the candle as the last of the sunlight faded over the horizon, "Here, give me a second", he walked down the stairs.

Tenmari looked at the flower he had crafted out of clay, down to the pattern in the leaves, it was really beautiful. Kankuro was surprised as he watched from a distance, Tenmari had thrown away flowers from admirers before like it was nothing, yet this single rose she held like it was her most prized possetion. Tenmari smiled as she looked at it, there was no way he hadn't started working on this rose before he gave it to her, it was too detailed, too perfect, he had to have known she would want to keep it.

Saikuron returned to the roof with some food, "I bought some groceries in the Hidden Leaf, and since you told me that you liked their food, I made some traditional Hidden Leaf dishes"

Kankuro watched as the two of them ate and talked, just enjoying the night without care. Tenmari had her guard down completely, letting herself get lost in the moment, and truly savoring each second. It was so strange to him, because he'd never seen if before, but at the same time, he thought it was a great thing, because of the way his sister smiled.

Tenmari was happy she had set the date up, she really had enjoyed it, "Thank you, Saikuron, for a wonderful evening"

Saikuron smiled as he stood up to take the dishes back in, "No, thank you, it was really great"

Tenmari noticed he had forgotten a small cup, so she stood up to give it to him, "Wait, you forgot-"

In her motion to hand it to him, he had stopped instantly, causing her to bump into him and the two of them to crash to the floor. She landed on top of him, their eyes locked and their hearts beating rapidly. Both of their faces were red as could be, but Tenmari wasn't going to hold back, she threw all cation to the wind and kissed him like she wasn't afraid to. Saikuron leaned into her, and after a long moment, they just stared at each other. Tenmari drew her fingers back slowly across his shoulder, until she felt it touch something, "What's this?"

She pulled down his shirt to reveal a small mark on the back of his left shoulder; a tiny paw print, no bigger than a marble. Saikuron seemed genuinely surprised, "What is it?"

"It's a tiny paw print, on your shoulder, is it a birthmark?"

"I don't know. Could you make sure it isn't just some ink or something?"

Tenmari ran her finger over the paw, and it began to glow. She stood up and looked in shock as Saikuron's chakra began building. He began breathing heavily, his breath making steam in the air, "Ugh... I feel hot...", the amount of chakra that gathered was massive, reaching that of a tailed beast, "Grr... no... not now..."

Tenmari was frightened, "Saikuron? What's going on?"

Saikuron's nose raised itself into the air, "No... that smell... run, Tenmari! I... I can't... fight... it..."

Tenmari stood back, but she refused to flee, "Please! Let me help you!"

Saikuron leaped up and pinned her against the wall, his hand holding her arm against the wall without strain, "That scent...", he tore the top of her dress off and placed his ear against her chest, "That sound...", his fingers ran across her shoulder, "That feel..."

Tenmari was absolutely horrified at the look in his eyes, she could only tremble as she was helpless to stop him. Her fears were slightly calmed as Saikuron was violently pulled back away from her by a large, wooden puppet. Kankuro shouted as his hands flew, "Stay away from her!"

Tenmari was happy to see her brother, "Kankuro?"

Saikuron howled as he tore the puppet to pieces, a white flame surrounding his body as his eyes turned purple, "Grrrrrrraaaaaaah!"

His roar echoed through the village, causing a horrible shiver to shake amongst the people. Gaara burst through the door onto the roof, "What's going on?!"

Tenmari trembled as she explained, "I found a birthmark on his shoulder, and then he started acting like this!"

Saikuron became busy as Kankuro's team began trying to restrain him with little success. He slashed through all of their traps and attacks like paper, his eyes focused on Tenmari the entire time. Gaara grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back, "I'll deal with this"

Tenmari grabbed his shoulder, "Please! Don't hurt him! That's not... him"

"Tenmari, I will do what I have to in order to protect you and the village, but I will try to refrain from harming him. Now go"

Tenmari decided to leave it in Gaara's hands and fled inside. Immediately feeling vulnerable, she changed out of the torn dress and into her regular clothes. All the while, she couldn't stop thinking about it... that shift in his eyes after she'd touched his birthmark, it was as if he had been replaced with an animal. She heard a cry from the roof, it was Gaara, shouting in pain. She grabbed her gigantic fan and dashed to the roof without hesistation.

When she looked through the door, she found that Saikuron was standing over Gaara with sharp claws and even sharper teeth. Fearing the look in his eyes as he moved closer to Gaara's neck, she used her fan to knock him off of the roof. She ran to Gaara's side, as he coughed up some blood, "Gaara! Are you alright?!"

Gaara coughed again, "Too strong... he is... too strong... I didn't stand... a chance..."

"Damn... I was afraid of this", Tenmari turned to see Saikuron's sister, "You found the brithmark on his back, didn't you?"

Tenmari nodded, "It was a paw..."

Kirin gritted her teeth, "This isn't going to be pretty... please tell me that you're the one who touched his birthmark"

"Y-Yeah..."

"That's good, we still have a chance"

"Chance to do what?"

"I don't know what it is, but something's possessing Saikuron. It's been a part of him for a long time, but it's normally sealed underneath him. That seal is the birthmark on his shoulder. He's never seen it before, I doubt he even knows it's there, but if a person with any chakra at all touches it, the seal is undone, and it takes over"

"So, how do we seal it back?"

"The person who removed the seal has to replace it by touching the same spot. We're gonna need to distract him with something strong enough to give you time to reach him… I just hope I haven't run out of it"

"Run out of what?"

She produced a small bottle from her pocket, "Alright, there's still some in here"

"What is that?"

"Don't worry about it, just go whenever I give you the signal, I'll explain it later-"

Their focus was adjusted as Saikuron jumped onto the roof and howled. The noise he created was powerful enough to shake the building, but Kirin quickly siezed the oppertunity to violently empty the bottle into his mouth. Once the liquid fell down his throat, she held his arms up and shouted, "Now!"

Tenmari thought she was too slow to close the distance, but somehow, she managed to reach his back before he could jerk himself free. The second she touched the spot, the paw reformed itself and Saikuron collapsed on the ground. Tenmari panted heavily, she had never been so scared in all her life, "What was that thing?"

Kirin frowned, "I don't know, but it hasn't come out for a long time, I thought I would never need this bottle ever again"

"Just what is in that bottle?"

Kirin turned Saikuron over, to reveal his eyes had rolled back in his head while his tongue hung out and his pants became stained, "Special aphrodisiac… extremely powerful, and is immune to resistance posed by chakra"

Tenmari was horrified and impressed all at the same time, "That is… disgusting"

"Don't blame him, a whiff of this stuff, and you'd be unable to talk for a week"

"Where the hell do you find something like that?"

"My first mission was to dispose of it, officially, I carried that mission out. But that was the first time he was like this, I've been holding onto the bottle in case it ever happened again. I'm surprised he didn't destroy the entire village before I got here"

"What happened last time?"

"He was two steps away from annihilating the Hidden Mist before they knew what hit them. It was sheer luck that brought that bottle to his lips. He'll wake up tomorrow and remember everything… what am I going to do with him?"

* * *

Saikuron's eyes fluttered open, his mind still a blur, he finally focused on Tenmari, who was standing over him, "T-Tenmari…?"

She came into focus as she spoke, "Yeah"

"Where…?"

"The hospital. You lost it when I touched your birthmark"

All of the memories flooded back into his head at once, "Oh god… Gaara… Kankuro… you must hate me…"

Tenmari could almost feel the pain he felt as he looked away, "That wasn't your fault, that wasn't you that did those things"

"That doesn't change anything. I should've been prepared, I should've had a plan"

"What could you have had planned?"

"A counter measure. Something that would've stopped me before… before I did what I did"

Kirin smiled, "That's what I'm here for"

"Kirin… you stopped me?"

"I couldn't have done it alone, but I had a feeling this might happen, so I kept that bottle"

"Kirin… thank you."

"But the bottle's empty now, so you know what you'll have to do"

"… Yeah… I was hoping this would never happen…"

Tenmari was confused, "What does he have to do?"

Kirin folded her arms, "He needs to search his soul, and find the beast within him, then he needs to let it out"

"Beast?"

"The voices in his head, the source of his massive chakra, the being that fueled that rampage. He has to confront it, and own it"

Tenmari remembered the last beast of great power she had tangled with, back before it was taken from her brother. That cold, heartless creature that would happily devour the world without a second thought… she shivered at the notion Saikuron could carry such a being.

With great dispair and a heavy heart, Saikuron sighed, "I can't ignore it anymore… help me up"

Kirin helped him walk, despite his strength, the medicine had robbed him of most of his control, he was completely dependent on Kirin to help him walk. Kirin frowned as she carried him, "Don't be afraid, you'll find it"

Saikuron couldn't let her words comfort him, even if he wanted to.

* * *

The Raikage, Tsunade, Kakashi, and Naruto all stood silently behind Saikuron as he sat calmly atop the rocks. Naruto looked to Kirin, "So, why are we here?"

Kirin sweated, "In case this goes wrong"

"And them?"

Kirin looked at Ino and Tenmari, "Emotional support"

"Alright. So, right now, he's trying to contact his inner beast?"

"Yeah, so we should be quiet"

Saikuron couldn't hear them atop the rock, he couldn't hear anything. Everything that was happening outside of his mind was a blank to him. He had silenced everything but himself, and he was terrified that he heard nothing. A howl, a snarl, something that proved he had an inner beast. He had put this off for so long because of what was happening right now; he found no beast, just that he was insane.

He heard his own thoughts begin to argue, "You're pathetic, everything you do is just a way to put off the fact you have no control over yourself"

His conscious thoughts countered, "That isn't true"

"Name one action that was provided purely out of a controlled thought"

"Helping Lee"

"An act to remove discomfort from yourself"

"Bringing the flower to the shop"

"The flower that was found through the voices in your head"

"Kissing Ino and Tenmari"

"…"

"The things that the voices said to do was more than what I did. I didn't let them control me! I am me! Nobody else!"

The thought he considered to be his own took a softer tone, "Finally… you've recovered"

He was surprised as a beautiful girl with white hair and purple eyes formed in his mind, "Who are you?"

"I am your guardian. My name is Cuan, the little wolf. My purpose is to protect you until you no longer need me"

"Where did you come from?"

"Many of my memories have been lost, but I am certain that I was your father's guardian, and his father's guardian before that. But it seems my duties have been fulfilled…", she began to frown.

"Fulfilled? What is that supposed to mean?"

"You have recovered… from that day, you have regained your will to live. You are now strong enough to carry yourself wherever you may need to go. You no longer require someone to watch over you…"

He couldn't stand her tears, "What about you?"

"I have no purpose… I will fade now… until I have vanished"

"No! You don't need to fade away! Stop!"

"You would keep me? After the pain that you have beared under me?"

"Just, don't leave, okay? I don't want you to fade away… you're a part of me"

"My instincts, the sound of my howls, they will remain if I do"

"That's fine"

Cuan continued to cry, "This is…"

Saikuron felt a rage inside of him, "I don't care what you say! I won't let you fade away!"

Cuan smiled through her tears, "I'm not sad… I'm just so happy… my life was created to keep yours happy. All of this time… I felt as though I was failing, that my instinct's effects on your mind and the intense amount of chakra my being put on you… I figured you would be happy to be rid of me…"

"You can't turn away from a part of who you are. To be strong, you have to accept that in ways, you are weak. We can work on the fighting and training later, for now, I'm just glad that you came to me"

As they all looked on, everyone was beginning to grow nervous as Saikuron's body began to glow with a bright, white aura. Naruto held his hand out in front of them, "Wait... there's no malice in it, he's in control"

He began to float in the air, as he grew brighter and brighter, until a flash of light blinded all of them. When they looked again, Saikuron stood before them, basked in a white aura, "I found it"

Kirin stepped forward, "And you've got it under your control?"

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!", as the smoke parted, everyone saw a little girl with white hair in a white nightgown, "This is Cuan, the wolf spirit that lives inside my head"

Cuan hid behind Saikuron as everyone stared at her, "S-S-Saikuron... why is everyone staring at me?! I don't like it!"

Saikuron looked up to see everybody was now staring at him, and he began to shake, "I-It's okay... t-t-t-t-t-t-there's no reason to panic..."

Naruto was confused, "So... there's no tailed beast?"

Cuan spoke shakily while still hiding, "I-I-I'm not a tailed beast... I only have the p-p-power my protected g-g-gives me... but h-he c-can feel chakra around him, s-s-so i-it can reach v-very h-high l-levels..."

Naruto stepped forward, "Then why couldn't Saikuron control himself?"

"S-Since I'm an animal s-spirit, I have very strong i-instincts. Since he and I are merged, t-they must've e-effected him"

The Raikage nodded, "Very well, Saikuron, since she is your guardian, or so she claims, it's up to you whether she stays or goes. Which will it be?"

Saikuron could feel the pressure of everyone around him, but he couldn't let himself crumble, "S-She stays"

Kirin was surprised, "Saikuron, you remember what happened..."

Saikuron nodded, "Y-Yeah, I do. T-That's when Cuan merged with me... because you can't protect something with no will to live. S-She kept me alive and became a part of my mind, I can't a-abandon her"

Tsunade smiled, "Well put. But if this is going to work, the two of you will need to learn to act as one, and not let the other's downsides control you. If you really want that, I have the perfect teachers in mind for both of you"

Saikuron looked to Cuan, they nodded to each other, then both looked at Tsunade, "W-We'll do it!"

"Sounds good! Now, since we've all had an exhausting day, why don't we all go visit the nearest hot spring to unwind?!"

Naruto sighed, "Granny Tsunade..."

Kakashi spoke, "Actually, that's not a bad idea. It would be good for the two of them to relax before their intense training tomorrow"

"Not you too, Kakashi..."

Ino slapped Naruto on the back of the head, "Naruto! You'd be the only guy in the world that would hate going to a hot spring!"

"I'm not against it! I was just giving Granny Tsunade a hard time 'cause she's old!"

Tsunade punched Naruto's head into the ground, "Oh, and Naruto, behave yourself at the hot spring, or else I'll have to kill you"

Tenmari slammed her fan onto the ground in front of Naruto's face, "And I won't hesitate to help her out"

Ino looked him in the eyes, "You know I'll make sure you're good and dead"

Saikuron sighed as he watched Naruto from a distance, then he felt Cuan pull on his shirt, "What is it, Cuan?"

She pointed at Tenmari and Ino, "Those two are Ino and Tenmari, right?"

He smiled, "Yep, that's them"

Cuan moved quickly, pushing both Ino and Tenmari into Saikuron before any of them realized what was going on, "The two of you, please mate with my master!"

Saikuron turned red as he looked at Cuan, "Cuan... what are you doing?"

Cuan looked up innocently, "Well... you love both of them, don't you? Isn't that what people that love each other do, mate?"

"Cuan... it doesn't work like that..."

Ino and Tenmari stared at each other with an intense glare for a second, then both of them turned to Cuan, "Who does Saikuron love more, me or her?!"

Cuan shrunk as they both stared her down, "P-P-P-Please stop staring at me l-l-l-like that..."

Neither of them were going to back down, "Tell her that it's me! No! It's me! GET AWAY FROM MY MAN, YOU SLUT! THAT'S IT!"

The two of them were less than a foot apart when Saikuron stepped between them, "Hold it!"

They both shouted in his ear, "Tell her that you love me!"

Through his two busted eardrums, Saikuron tried to salvage the situation, "I love you both, dammit!"

"Then tell her you love me more!"

Saikuron got fed up with it, "I love you both equally!", he sighed and put his hand to his forehead, "The two of you are completely different people, but you both hold a special place in my heart. The thought of having to chose one of you over the other is more painful than the thought of losing you both. So, no, I can't tell either of you that I love you more than the other, but I can't say I'm lying when I say I love you with both with all of my heart... maybe you both hate me for that. But that's how I feel, and I can't change that. I'm heading to the hot spring now..."

Both Tenmari and Ino saw the amount of pain in his eyes as he walked away, he really was torn between the two of them like a piece of paper between two hurricanes. They all decided that they _did_ just need to soak in the hot spring and clear their heads.

* * *

Kakashi sighed, "It's been a while since the last time I went to a hot spring"

The Raikage let out a sigh, "Too long, if you ask me"

Naruto looked at Saikuron, "You alright, man? You're not talking much"

Saikuron sighed from the other side of the spring, "Forgive me if I don't feel comfortable in just a towel around two people I just met"

"Don't worry about it, I've been in weirder situations"

"I wonder what they're talking about..."

"Who, the girls? Two of them love you, one of them is your sister, and the other is merged into your brain. They're probably talking about you."

Saikuron let the water melt his physical pain away, and decided he wanted to take his mind off of everything else, "Hey, Naruto, you wanna hear how the Raikage reacted when he realized a child was outperforming his nightly guard?"

The Riakage became enraged, "No, he doesn't!"

Naruto smiled evilly, "Yeah, I do!"

The Raikage stood up, "Why, you little!"

* * *

Kirin heard laughter from the other side of the wall, "Huh, sounds like they're having a ball over there"

Tsunade sighed, "Who cares? The water feels great, and I don't have to do any paperwork right now, they can kill each other over there, as long as they stay over there"

Kirin turned back to Ino, Tenmari, and Cuan, "So, let me get this straight, he loves both of you, he's kissed both of you, and both of you have seen him when he's come under the influence of his natural instincts?", they nodded, "And she's trying to get both of you to have sex with him?"

Cuan tilted her head, "Isn't that what people that love each other do?"

Kirin put her hand on her forehead, "Well, that all sounds... just about right"

Tenmari and Ino were confused, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, Saikuron believes that love isn't limited, when he says he loves you both equally, he means it. I honestly don't know how we could do anything to change his mind"

Cuan raised her hand, "Can I please take off the blindfold now?"

Kirin answered quickly, "No! Since you're a part of Saikuron's brain, you're not allowed to see any of us naked"

Cuan whimpered, "But... I can see through the blindfold"

All of the girls covered themselves with their hands, "Why didn't you say something before?!"

"I-I didn't know why you put the blindfold on me!"

"How can you see through it anyway?!"

"W-Wolf's vision can make an image out of even the smallest amount of light, I can see through the small crevices in the weave of the blindfold"

"Then close your eyes!"

Cuan did as instructed, "I-I'm sorry!"

Tenmari and Ino withheld the deep desire to beat the memory out of Cuan's head. Kirin sighed, "How long have you been a part of his mind, anyway?"

"I was watching over him since birth, but it wasn't until he lost his will to live that we truly merged"

"So, you've known him all his life?"

"I don't know, I can't remember anything before Saikuron's father told me that I was supposed to protect Saikuron"

Tsunade was confused, "That's strange, animal spirits usually have some form of memory from their past life, it would take thousands of years for them to degrade. You really can't remember anything?"

"No. Saikuron is my reason for living, his happiness is my joy"

Kirin was still confused, "Then why are the two of you out of sync? Why does he want to do one thing, while you want to do another?"

"We may be merged, but I am my own entity, my thoughts and his are close, but still seperate. He loves them, but he's not sure how to approach it, so I try to do what I think is best"

Ino and Tenmari both lost it, "So it was you that pinned us down?!"

Cuan shrunk once again, "I thought that was how it worked..."

Tenmari got even more upset, "You don't rip people's clothes off! That's how you make people want to kill you!"

"I-I'm sorry!"

Kirin felt sorry for Cuan, so she turned to Tsunade, "What do you think's gonna come out of all of this?"

"Knowing Ino and Tenmari? Saikuron's love life is about to get very complicated..."

Cuan finally snapped under the pressure of the girls yelling at her, "Saikuron!"

As she shouted, she vanished, and Saikuron was left in her place, dazed and rubbing his eyes, "What the...? Where am I?"

The second he opened his eyes, he was met by a fist that knocked him into the nearest wall, rendering him unconscious. Tenmari and Ino were a bit in shock as Tsunade's forehead bulged. Ino was a bit concerned, "Lady Tsunade... you didn't have to hit him _that _hard..."

Tsunade realized she had put all of her strength into the punch, "Oh crap… force of habit, I thought he was Naruto. Aw, well, I'll treat his wounds later"

Ino looked at the wreck where Saikuron had landed, "Maybe I should try to heal him…"

Kirin pointed, "Don't bother, you won't be able to help him"

Tenmari and Ino turned to see that Kirin was pointing at a towel on the floor, then they both sunk into the water with red faces, "Or I can stay here…"

They heard Cuan shaking him, "Come on, Saikuron! Wake up! They're both naked, now's your chance!"

Tenmari and Ino looked at Cuan with an evil stare, "Chance for what, exactly?!"

"Quick! Before they put their clothes on!"

Tsunade smirked, "He ain't getting up anytime soon, kid, count on that-"

"What the hell just hit me…?", Saikuron rubbed his forehead with both hands, trying to make the pain go away. He was swiftly met with a kunai to the forehead, with a little tag tied to it. As he went to pull the kunai out, the tag shocked him and Cuan with a dark blue lightning, "Aaaaaaaaahhhh!"

As he keeled over, Kirin smiled, "It's a good thing I prepared a chakra punishment tag. Now even Cuan won't be able to bother us for a while"

Naruto shouted from the other side of the wall, "Hey, is Saikuron over there?!"

Tsunade shouted over the wall back, "If he is, he's a dead man!", she then turned to the rest of the girls, "Best that this is kept quiet, right?"

The Raikage shouted over the wall, "If you want me to, I know how to punish him!"

"It's fine, he's suffering as it is!"

Kakashi sighed as he spoke quietly from the other side, "For his sake, I hope he's unconscious at this point, or else he's in for one hell of a fight that he won't win"

* * *

Saikuron sighed as he poured water over Cuan, "Well, at least now that everyone else is gone, we can use the spring in peace…"

Cuan frowned, "Did I mess up earlier when I called you over to the girl's bath without warning?"

"While I would prefer you never do it again, I know you didn't mean to hurt me. So I'm not mad, but yes, it isn't something you should do"

"Why is it so weird for people to be around each other naked? Why is it so awkward?"

Saikuron kept reminding himself that she was just an animal spirit, so she didn't understand it, "Well, people feel vulnerable when they're fully exposed"

"But I don't feel vulnerable around you"

"That's because we're one and the same, I would never do anything to hurt you, and I know you would never hurt me"

"Grr… humans are so complicated!", Cuan began sulking, "Why do people do such weird things…?"

Saikuron sighed, "Because they're too smart to see how dumb they are"

Cuan smiled a little bit, "You're not like that either, you know exactly how dumb you are!"

Saikuron tried to take it as the compliment it was supposed to be, "Maybe not exactly, but I know that I'll never know everything"

Cuan frowned, "Hey, master? Am I dumb? I just think… that I'm pretty clueless compared to you"

"You're not dumb, you just have a lot to learn. Everybody has to learn in order to think wisely, you just need that time and guidance"

"So, you'll teach me to be smart?"

"I have to start a pretty rough training session tomorrow, so Iruka will have to be your teacher"

"Iruka's the guy that got those kids to stop staring at you, right?"

"Yeah, he is"

"That was nice of him"

"You're just as shy as me, aren't you?"

"Yeah… I hate it when people stare at me, too"

"Alright, I'm tired, we should go get some rest for tomorrow"

"Hey, master? If I feel really scared, can I call you to the school?"

"Cuan… you don't need to call me, whenever you feel scared, just remember, I'm right here", he pointed to her heart.

"In my breasts?"

"No, in your heart"

"Oh, like, I can hear you if I listen really hard?"

"Yeah, just like I can hear you if I listen"

Cuan smiled and placed her hand over her heart, "I feel happy! Now I don't have to worry about you so much, you're right here!"

"Only as long as you let me. Come on, we've got a big day ahead of us"

* * *

Saikuron felt his heart drop into his stomach, "Kirin… why are Tenmari and Ino here in bathing suits?!"

Kirin smiled as Tsunade put her arm over his shoulder, "You see, Saikuron, since you are a boy of that age, many of your instincts would draw you towards people your age of the opposite gender-"

"I don't need the birds and the bees speech!"

"Good, because this is to test your control over your animal instincts. Should you give in to any urges, you will be forcibly stopped and will be punished with another day of training. Your training begins when you consume the liquid on the desk"

Saikuron looked at the bottle on the desk, "What is this?"

"A mixture that will boost your testosterone and sexual drive through the roof"

"I'm not drinking this!"

"Either you learn control or you give up on Cuan, which will it be?"

* * *

Cuan looked at the room, her eye twitching as she counted the number of people staring at her. Once she reached twenty, she grabbed Iruka's sleeve and pulled him into the hallway, "Why are all those people staring at me?!"

Iruka sweated, "You're the new student, they're going to wonder who you are"

Cuan looked ready to cry, "Please make them stop! I'm begging you, Iruka-sensei!"

"I can't just command the class like that… listen, you're here to learn so that you can protect Saikuron better, can't you just ignore them?"

"How am I supposed to ignore a room full of people staring at me?!"

"Just pretend they're not there"

"You're out of your mind?! They'll still be there! That doesn't help!"

Iruka sighed, how could she be so smart if she knew so little? He switched tactics, "I thought you said you'd do anything to learn to be a better guardian?"

Cuan let that sit, she _did_ want to learn to protect Saikuron better... she decided to push through, even if she was absolutely terrified, "You're right, let's do this!"

* * *

Saikuron looked at the bottle on the desk, "How many days again?"

Tsunade answered swiftly, "Five, unless you fail during one of them"

Saikuron sighed, "This is gonna suck so bad... let's get this over with", Saikuron downed the bottle in one gulp, "This is gonna be a long day..."


	4. Chapter 4

Saikuron trembled as he tried to focus on the words written in the pages, he had made it through two hours of his study portion of his training, so he only had two more to go. Considering the fact his eyes wanted so very desperately to look up and at the beautiful girls that surrounded him, he was surprised he was able to study at all. In the back of his mind, he was cursing Tsunade for making such a potent drug, but at the moment, he had to continue to focus entirely on the book, or else he might do something he would regret later.

* * *

Cuan stood in front of the class and tried not to tremble, as Iruka introduced her, "Good morning, class"

The class responded with a happy tone, "Good morning, Iruka sensei!"

Iruka smiled, "Today, we'll be having a new student join us, her name is Cuan, and I want all of you to be nice to her, okay?"

The class responded once again, "Okay!"

Iruka smiled as he looked down at her, "See? Nothing to be afraid of"

Cuan felt ready to cry, "C-Can I go sit down now?"

Iruka nodded, "Sure thing"

Cuan dashed to a seat near the back and sat down. Iruka was going over the basic history of ninjas when Cuan started listening, "... therefore, while most people are prone to using one style of chakra, there are some people who can use more than one. Yes, Cuan?"

Cuan was a little surprised at her own boldness, "U-Um... master can use all five styles..."

One of the little kids got excited, "No way! Nobody can use all the styles!"

Iruka tried to diffuse the situation, "Well, if somone were to have a special inherited jutsu call the Rinnegan, that person would be able to use all five styles, but it's extremely rare"

"What's the Rinnegan?"

"It's a special eye jutsu that looks like a purple target. As far as I know, there is no shinobi alive in the world that posseses the Rinnegan"

Cuan got mad, "But master doesn't have any weird target eyes! He can use all five styles at once, and he doesn't have any Rinnegan!"

The boy a few desks ahead of her scoffed, "She's a liar, there's no way that could be true!"

A destructive white flame formed around Cuan as she shouted, "I'm not lying! Master _can_ use all five styles!"

Iruka gathered the children behind him as he made a barrier between Cuan and them, "Cuan, I know that you're not lying, it's just that they don't know your master, okay? They're not trying to be mean or say he can't, they just don't know who he is"

Cuan's aura dissapeared, "Oh! Okay, my master is Saikuron! He's training right now, but he can do anything! Nobody can beat him!"

One kid piped up, "What about Naruto?"

Another piped up, "Or the Hokage?"

Cuan smiled, folded her arms and shook her head, "Master has defeated all of them! He's the strongest that's ever lived! You could become stronger just by standing in his amazing presence!"

Iruka tried to turn around to calm his class down, but before he had a chance the entire class was jumping up and down, "Saikuron! Saikuron! Saikuron!"

Iruka shouted, "Enough! Now! We will resume class, if, afterschool, you want to meet Saikuron, I strongly suggest you talk to Cuan about it, until then, we are going to resume class, alright?!"

The students returned to their seats, and Cuan felt their eyes on her for the rest of the day as she tried to learn quietly.

* * *

Saikuron sighed as he finally put down the two tremendous boulders, "Ha… I made it…"

Tsunade smiled as she injected him with a little medicine, "Good job, I honestly thought you'd crack on the first day, and I'd have to restrain you myself, but you made it"

His body fell out of its hype as the medicine counteracted the earlier drugs, "Finally… it's over…"

"Yeesh, you must've been in a really bad spot, with all that in your system"

"Not to mention… the girls… weren't too many of them…"

Tsunade scratched the back of her head, "Well, since this is a mission, I figured I would rely on volunteers, but there were more than I anticipated…"

"Easy pay… right?"

"Something like that. Will you be alright?"

Saikuron stood himself up, "Lee… needs to train today… if he won't give up… I won't either"

"That's very kind of you. I wonder how Cuan did in class today?"

Tsunade didn't wonder long as Cuan jumped into the field with them, "Master! Master!"

Saikuron was confused by her urgency, "What is it?"

"Um… I accidentally told a bunch of the other students how awesome you are, and now they want to meet you!"

His eyes went wide, "How many are there?"

"About forty"

He nearly puked from nervousness, "Why…? Why would you do that?"

Cuan was sincerely sorry, not to mention, nervous herself, "I'm sorry! It was an accident! They just kept making me mad, and I couldn't let them talk you down like they were!"

He patted her head, "I know you meant well, but you can't let what other people say bother you. If you let them control what you do, it doesn't matter how powerful you are, you'll lose every time"

"So what are we gonna do about those students?"

"We are going to be the most dangerous ninja there is; an unseen one. You can jump back into my head, then we'll go help Lee before they find us"

Cuan vanished as Saikuron made himself invisible, and took off, with any luck, he would get there with a few minutes to spare.

* * *

Hinata sighed, she had been looking for Naruto all day, but to little avail, she decided it was time she used her Byakugan. She activated it and scanned the area around her, when all of a sudden, a huge source of chakra shot past her at breakneck pace. She could tell from the shape that it wasn't Naruto, but something about it made her feel uneasy. There was no ninja she knew with that kind of power, other than Naruto, and he was hiding his presence, so she decided to follow him.

This oddly powerful ninja was quick, and he checked to see if anyone was following him often, but Hinata didn't let him out of her sight, nor did she let herself get caught. She followed him all the way to the forest, where he disposed of his invisibility. Taking a closer look, his hair looked a little like Kakashi's, but not quite as showy, and his chakra was closer to Kiba's in appearance. The strangest part was that Lee was waiting for him, and looked very serious, "I must thank you once again for your assistance, I am very gratefull that you are doing this"

The boy waved his hand, "Forget about it, you're my first friend from the Hidden Leaf, you helped me be less afraid"

"Very well, shall we begin?!"

The boy smile, "Chakra Manifestation Mode!"

Hinata gasped as she saw chakra flow into his body, everything she knew about how chakra flowed was defied as he controlled the flow throughout his body in different directions all at the same time. She was shocked even more as she watched him inject his chakra into Lee, it wasn't more than his body could handle, but it was more than he could produce. In no more than a half hour, Lee performed a body replacement technique, and then she was really surprised. She couldn't hid in the bushes any longer, "Wow! Lee, that was amazing!"

Lee was as excited as ever, "Was it not, Hinata?!"

"How did you do that?"

Lee pointed to the stranger, "With Saikuron's assistance, I am able to work my chakra coils! And one day, I may even be able to use chakra on my own!"

Hinata smiled as she looked at Saikuron, "That's amazing! Thank you for helping Lee, really!"

Saikuron hid behind Lee, "Y-You're w-welcome..."

Hinata was confused, "Did I say something?"

Lee smiled, "It is not you, Hinata! Saikuron is simply very shy!"

"He's shy?"

Saikuron tried to make himself look smaller behind Lee, "P-P-Please s-s-stop staring at m-m-me..."

Lee rubbed his chin, "Hm... I have not seen him this afraid since Neji stared at him..."

Hinata realized why she scared him, and deactivated her Byakugan, "I'm sorry, please, I promise I won't stare"

He poked his head out and saw her without her eyes bulging out of her head, and he felt a lot less scared, "O-Okay... did you follow me here?"

"I wasn't sure if you were a threat or not, but now I know that you aren't, please forgive my suspicions"

"Were you followed by a horde of children?"

"No, why do you ask?"

Saikuron shakily pointed to the huge crowd of children that were running their way, Cuan running far ahead of them. Cuan reached them with enough time to hide behind Lee, "Master! I'm sorry! I wanted to try a treat I saw in the store and everyone saw me and followed me here!"

"Who's that?"

Saikuron withheld his urge to punch the top of her head, "She's Cuan, my spirit guardian... we should probably run now..."

Hinata smiled, "Don't worry, I'll take care of it"

She stood before the crowd of children and held her hands out, "Hey!"

A single child stepped forward out of the crowd, "We want to see Saikuron!"

Hinata looked back to see Saikuron shaking behind Lee, "Why do you want to see him?"

"We wanna see how cool he is!"

Hinata was shy, but having felt bad for her actions, she swallowed her shyness, "You want to see something cool?"

The whole crowd shouted, "Yes!"

Hinata took her combat stance, "Gentle Step: Twin Lion fists!", the chakra swirled around her fists and she amazed the kids as she punched straight through trees with one blow. Saikuron had turned invisible while the kids were distracted, but he stuck around and watched while she did her stuff. Once all the kids had calmed down and left, Hinata sighed, "Finally, they're gone..."

Lee smiled, "I am impressed, Hinata! That was very bold of you!"

Hinata smiled, "Well, after scaring him so bad, I wanted Saikuron to know I didn't hate him. Where is he, by the way?"

Saikuron removed the invisibility from himself and bowed on his knees before her, Cuan right next to him, speaking in unison, "Thank you so much for getting rid of them! If there's anything we can ever do to help you out, don't hesitate to ask!"

"N-No, it's fine, really..."

Cuan looked up at her and looked into her eyes, "You love somebody, don't you?!"

Hinata turned red, "No!"

"You do! Let us help you! We can get you two together, you'll be mating in no ti-"

Cuan was cut off as Saikuron covered her mouth, "What she means is, it would be our honor to assist you, in any way we can"

Hinata was quiet, she would love to ask Naruto how he felt, but she knew why that wouldn't happen, "Unless you can fill me with courage..."

Saikuron stood up and smiled, "Cuan, I think we can help her out, let's do this!", Cuan vanished as Saikuron gathered chakra, "Chakra Manifestation mode!"

Hinata took a step back, "W-What are you doing?"

Saikuron smiled as he began doing hand seals, "Don't worry! This will only take a second!"

Hinata activated her Byakugan and saw that the chakra around him was changing, "What in the...?"

Saikuron pointed his palms towards her, "Absolute Chakra Style: Couragous Rush!"

Hinata watched as the chakra with a strange glow surrounded her, flying past her and covering her, "What is this?!"

Saikuron fell to the ground, his chakra and his body exhausted, "Chakra... manipulation... now you have... more... courage"

Hinata felt ready to smack him on the back of the head, then found herself doing it, "You scared me! What's wrong with you?!"

"See? You weren't afraid to speak your mind... You've got about twenty minutes, I'll help you!", Saikuron sprung to his feet as fast as he could, then took off, "I'll find him!"

Hinata looked to Lee, "Lee, what am I gonna do if he finds Naruto?!"

Lee tilted his head, "Tell him how you feel?"

Hinata smacked him on the back of his head, "What kind of answer is that?!"

"Why wouldn't you tell him?"

Hinata stopped for a moment, without her insanely overbearing shyness, she couldn't provide a reason not to tell him. Her fear that had been holding her back being restricted, there was nothing to stop her. Would she be able to tell him? As her mind reeled with the possibility, she heard a voice behind her, "Hey, Hinata, there was something you wanted to tell me?"

She turned around to see that Saikuron had brought Naruto, in no less than four minutes, with a smile and two thumbs up. Hinata looked into Naruto's eyes, losing herself in them, then, she finally said what she had always been too afraid to, "N-Naruto... I love you..."

Naruto smiled, "I love you too, Hinata"

Hinata smiled as she cried into her shoulder, "I'm so happy... I've waited so long..."

Naruto pulled her back and looked into her eyes, "Me too"

Saikuron and Cuan smiled as they hi-fived behind them.

* * *

Their moment seemed short-lived as they quickly returned to their intense trainings. Saikuron somehow managed to make it through four days without messing up, and Iruka hadn't died in the four days that Cuan had been a part of his class, so they both were doing much better than expected. Saikuron groaned as he laid down on his bed, "Only one day left... one more"

Cuan smiled as she munched on some candy, "Master, this candy is really good, thank you for buying it!"

"No problem, Cuan"

"Hey, master?"

"What is it, Cuan?"

"What are you going to do about Ino and Tenmari?"

"... I don't know. I really do love them both..."

"So how ya' gonna pick one?"

"Like I said, I really don't know"

"I think you should mate with them both, they would both have healthy kids"

"That's not the issue here..."

"Then what is?"

"If I chose one over the other, sure, one of them would be happy, but the other would be heartbroken. Then I would have to live with the guilt of having shattered one of their hearts, and I don't think I could do that"

"You really are kind, master, you always think about other people"

Saikuron let that sit in the air as he looked at the roof, contemplating his life. He looked out the window, the night sky was beautiful, the stars shining brightly. He was considering the reasons why that might be when a girl with purple hair and blue eyes dropped into his window with a smile, "Hello!"

He looked at her blankly, "Hello… go away"

She frowned, "No way! I came here to meet you!"

Saikuron felt his heart skip a beat, "Please tell me you don't have anybody else with you"

"I don't, can I come in?"

"No, because I don't know who you are"

"Well, let me in, and I'll tell you!"

"You can tell me from there"

"Actually, I can't, because this is an important secret"

"If you tell me here, it would be the same as telling me from inside"

Cuan jumped to his side, "Yeah, so spill your guts!"

The mysterious girl smiled wider, "Yes, I knew it was you! Oh, this is awesome! This is the best day of my life!"

Saikuron was still confused, "And it's the best day of your life, because...?"

She pointed directly at him, "I finally found you, my lord!"

Saikuron sweated, "Lord...?"

"Yes, I have been searching for you for many years now, hoping that one day, I would find you so that you could return to us!"

"Return?"

"All those years ago, you were lost upon transportation, but now, you can finally come home!"

"Wait, wait, wait, just slow down, where is this place you keep referring to as 'home'?"

"The shrine built for the sun goddess's shinobi and the moon god's shinobi, for you, my lord! While your mother and father both carried a piece of the yin and yang, you hold both, so now, the temple is dedicated to you, and you alone"

Saikuron imagined a statue of himself and began to quiver, "T-Temple... j-just for me?"

The girl nodded excitedly, "Yes! It is a glorious palace, for you to command! Come nightfall tomorrow, I will return to retrive you, until then, rest well, my lord!"

As she ran off, excitedly, Saikuron and Cuan were left with the thought of ruling a palace. Though they both had the same expression, Cuan spoke first, "We need to track her down and kill her before she tells anybody!"

Saikuron tried to calm her down, "N-N-No, I-I'm sure it was just a prank... I can't be a shinobi under a god... right?"

While his words made sense, the two of them spent the entire night wide awake, terrified at the idea of being the center of that much attention.

* * *

After their training and schooltime had ended, Cuan and Saikuron met up in the training field. Cuan started, "Have you seen her today?"

Saikuron shook his head, "No, I think we're in the clear, it was probably a prank"

They both let out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness! For a second, I was terrified that we would actually be going to a place like that!"

"Well, we have some free time now, you want to go get a treat?"

Cuan smiled like the ten year old girl she appeared to be, "Yes! I heard that ice cream is very delicious!"

"Okay then, let's go get some ice cream", after a quick trip back to the village, he bought them a pair of ice cream cones and they began eating them on a bench, "These are good"

Cuan smiled with ice cream all over her face, "Yeah! We should buy some every day!"

"You'll get sick if you eat too much ice cream, how about once a week?"

"Okay!"

Saikuron smiled as he looked at the crowd of people, none of them looked in his direction, that was one of the things he liked about the Hidden Leaf; people were friendly, but not overbearingly so. He finished the last of his cone and then looked to Cuan, "So, you wanna go see what Lee's up to?"

Cuan nodded, "Sure! Bushy-Brow is always fun to be around!"

Saikuron was beginning to wonder just what she had been learning in school when Shikamaru appeared next to him, "I wouldn't say that about Lee, but it's true he's full of energy..."

"Hey, Shikamaru, what's up?"

"The Hokage says that since you've completed all the training, you should have a match against a strong opponent, so that you could officially be ranked as a shinobi. She said that you could select your oppenent, but that she wanted to watch the match, and your opponent gets to choose the time and place of the match"

"Okay, I pick you"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "Me? Are you sure about that?"

"You were right, in my last riddle, I wasn't clear enough to give you a chance to reach the correct answer. I owe you a rematch, if you want one, that is"

Shikamaru hadn't forgotten about the incident, "You're a troublesome guy... but you're on. Be at the training field in one hour, then we'll fight. Just remember, you asked for this"

Saikuron smiled, "It would be an honor to see the true power of your mind, Shikamaru. I look forward to our match, I hope you hold nothing back"

Shikamaru smiled as he walked off, "Whatever you say"

Cuan frowned, "Hey, Shikamaru is a really smart guy, you sure it's a good idea to challange him and give him time to plan ahead?"

"No way, it's a terrible idea, Shikamaru is one of the greatest minds in the world, going in blindly would be as good as suicide"

"So... you got a plan?"

"Not yet, but we've got one hour, let's just pray that's enough time"

"Enough time for what?"

"Enough time to prepare for hell to reign down on us"

* * *

Tsunade looked at Choji with disbelief, "Let me get this straight, he chose Shikamaru, and then told Shikamaru to prepare for him?"

Choji nodded, "I know, this guy must be crazy!"

Tsunade contemplated the ways this could turn out, there was no way she could fathom them all, but none of them were pretty, "Choji, I want you to gather a couple of medical ninjas to watch over the match, I have a feeling we might need them"

"Lady Tsunade, not to pry, but how good is this guy that challanged Shikamaru?"

"I don't know, Choji. Everything he's ever learned was self-taught or done by trial and error, and he's a fine shinobi. Mentally, I've never met a ninja that could match Shikamaru, and with time to prepare, I've never seen Shikamaru lose. But Saikuron is no slouch, in the short month I've known him, he's surpassed every expectation I've had of him, and then done more"

"Is it true he went toe-to-toe with Naruto?"

"I didn't see it myself, but as far as I know, the two of them did have a short fight. Do not tell anyone else of this fight, the only people observing it will be Shikamaru's teamates, his close friends, and his clan. This match was meant to be a test to his strength, but it looks like we'll have to see how well he can combine his wits and his strength"

"Oh, he also said that the match would take place in his clansman's forest"

"Sounds like Shikamaru is taking this seriously"

"It was weird, the entire time he was telling me about it, he sounded excited. I've never seen him get pumped up for anything before, at least, not like this"

Tsunade sighed, "This is going to be a match we won't forget"

* * *

Shikamaru looked at how much time he had left; twenty minutes. He had fully examined the geography of the area, taken into account every move that had been used by his opponent, and several moves he might be capable of using. That said, it didn't hurt that he'd taken every precaution to assure that he would be victorious. Hell, at this point, Naruto wouldn't stand a chance against him, nobody would. He had created the perfect grounds for him to battle on, now all that remained was for him to wait until the match began.

* * *

Saikuron looked over the map once more, having memorized it forward, backward, and sideways, he smiled, "We're in for one hell of a fight"

Cuan frowned, "You've been planning this out for over fifty minutes now, how do you even know he'll do half the things you're anticipating?"

"Shikamaru wouldn't leave anything to chance, so we can't either", he scanned over the map one last time, "It looks like we're as prepared as we can be, we should get going"

"So what's the plan?"

"Don't know, I'll have to make it when we get there", with that said, Cuan returned to Saikuron's head and the two made their way to the training grounds. When they arrived, they saw Shikamaru sleeping against a tree.

He yawned and woke up to see them, "You're early"

"I finished studying a map of the area, now I think I'm ready"

Shikamaru smiled, "Sorry, but the area where we'll be fighting isn't on any map. It's specific to my clansmen, so the only way to study it is by being in it personally"

"Geez, what a pain... at least I won't have to go out of the way to see it now"

Shikamaru frowned, "It would be troublesome for you anyway, since only those allowed in can enter"

"Fair enough. From what I've gathered you seem excited take me on, I guess I upset you pretty badly when I made that riddle. You'll probably go all out against me. It's an honor, and for that, I thank you"

"Thank me later, for now, just follow me", Shikamaru led him to the forest quickly, then stopped once he was dead center of it, "Here is where we fight"

Saikuron took a look at his surroundings, then a look at the slowly setting sun, "One minute before we begin"

"Good luck, you're gonna need it"

"Ten seconds... before we begin, I just want to let you know, my will to become a shinobi... this unstoppable dream... it will burn through any plan you may have had. When this is over, it's going to be a clash of spirit, not of mental capabilities. Now, it's time to start, may the best man win"

Shikamaru smiled as the sun set about halfway past the horizon, "Show me what you're made of, Shadow Possession Jutsu!"

Saikuron attempted to avoid the shadow he saw start to chase him, but as it moved through the trees' shadows, it became bigger and faster. Saikuron figured it out in his head, _'No wonder he wanted exactly an hour to prepare, this Shadow Possession Jutsu's range must be increased by more shadows. At this rate, I could run through the whole forest and he'd still be able to catch me'_

Sure enough, the shadow touched his within seconds, and he was unable to move. Shikamaru smiled, "Shadow Possession Jutsu complete. Sorry, but this is going to end here"

Saikuron watched him pick a lighter up out of a tree, as his hand merely brushed up against the bark, "I'm guessing you have more than that in store for me"

Shikamaru threw two kunai with explosive tags to both sides of Saikuron, "This is probably gonna hurt a whole lot, but there's medical ninjas nearby, so you'll live", he tossed the lighter with a smile.

Saikuron shouted almost half a second before the lighter hit one of the tags, "Exact Clone Jutsu!", as the tag exploded, Saikuron jumped away from where he was standing, landing on his feet without a scratch on his body, "You won't beat me that easily!"

Shikamaru was reeling, "How did you escape the Shadow Possession?!"

"Exact Clone Jutsu requires mastery of all five styles of jutsu, and requires the user to be seconds away from a life-threatening blast, but it's a scapegoat that never fails, especially when used with good timing"

"That blast wouldn't have been lethal"

"No, but if I enhanced the blast with my own chakra, it would've been"

"You created a lethal hit so that you wouldn't be defeated... good thinking"

"I'm still trapped in this labarynth where every turn is the wrong one. It's going to be a long match, but I won't let you stop me from being a ninja!"

Shikamaru got the message, he would have to force Saikuron into submission without using too much force. And so it began, Shikamaru began chasing Saikruon, "You can't escape!" After nearly thirty minutes had passed, Shikamaru was astounded that he was still outrunning it, "Why are you struggling so hard?! You'll never escape!"

Saikuron shouted as he kept running, even though he knew he was using up what little air he had in his lungs, "Even if your speed doubles every ten steps, I will not let you take what's rightfully mine from me, no matter how hard it is! Just like Lee, I won't give up!"

Shikamaru was shocked as he watched Saikuron continue to run, just like Lee would. Down to the way he fought through the pain, like it wasn't even there, this guy could run just like Lee, he wasn't even using any chakra to do it. Shikamaru was starting to get concerned, _'The sun's almost down... and I won't be able to hold this jutsu much longer, even with the trees' shadows making the hold easier... I need to trap him, quickly'_ Shikamaru started running through plans in his mind, and found the one that would use the least of his assets and would be the most effective, just in case it didn't work.

Saikuron saw the pattern once it had begun, but he knew he couldn't stop it, so he began to pray as he ran. Shikamaru was done chasing blindly, he was leading Saikuron into a trap, without giving him a way to escape. Saikuron could see it, but he kept moving at full speed, preparing himself for the hit, "You won't stop me!"

Shikamaru smiled as he looked at Saikuron, who was running right towards him, "This is the end of it! Now! Shadow Pull Jutsu!"

Shikamaru watched, almost in slow motion, as Saikuron jumped into the jutsu. His body was moving so strangely that Shikamaru couldn't understand how he had jumped, but somehow, by the skin on his teeth, he avoided the Shadow pull. In the middle of the shadow's cyclone, he moved his body in just the right way, so that the shadow did not touch him. When he landed on the other side, Saikuron threw a lighter into the shadows, dispersing them with light. Shikamaru watched as Saikuron's fist landed directly on him, knocking him into a tree.

Shikamaru stood up quickly, to see that Saikuron was waiting from a small distance, "Come on! Show me what you've got!"

Shikamaru wiped his face, "Why didn't you just keep me down? You'd have won"

Saikuron's face became serious, "It's not about winning. It's not about beating someone as fast as possible and just enjoying a victory. I've been training for this moment for as long as I can remember. This fight is against you because you are capable of being unstoppable, and you've never lost when you put everything you have into a fight, two hundred percent. I don't care about the official match, or an official victory, I'm not taking a victory because I can pull a fast one. I'm not winning until I earn the damn victory, and I'm not giving up until my heart stops beating!"

Shikamaru could almost feel Saikuron's passion from the distance, "That will... that undying need... it consumes all other focus... a will of fire..."

"Are you going to fight me or did I pick the wrong person?!"

Shikamaru smiled, he knew now that the odds were he would lose this match, the math be damned. This guy had turned his own strategy against him, something that had never successfully been done to him before without his planning, "You want a fight everything I've got... you got it!"

Shikamaru charged him, and the two went at it, despite his usual laziness, Shikamaru was very talented with a blade. He and Saikuron were neck and neck, neither of them holding anything back, both of them landing hits on each other like crazy, but fighting through the pain they felt to deliver the next blow. Shikamaru had never fought at this range the way he was like this, but he did it anyway, using his incredibly fast mind, he made sure every hit he landed was hard enough to be a real blow, and tried to minimalize the damage to his own body. He knew that everyone was watching him, they probably thought he was crazy, or that he had planned to somehow paralyze him by hitting a specific nerve.

But Saikuron was too fast for that, his strength and speed forcing him on as his weak defense forced him to feel every hit twice as much as he should've, because he refused to block any of them. It continued until Saikuron managed to knock Shikamaru back far enough he could breathe. Shikamaru smiled, "Not bad, but now it's time to combine jutsu, tai and nin"

Saikuron smiled, "Bring it on! I won't lose!"

"Shadow Pull Jutsu!", Shikamaru smiled, he had set up lanterns all over the forest, with them lit, it wouldn't matter that the sun had gone down, he would have all the shadows he could possibly ask for. The shadows would pull a match down into the lamp and light each one, and then Shikamaru would be that much further ahead without even trying. As he felt the matches fall, he began to feel the shadows grow as well, "Now you're trapped!"

Saikuron shook his head, "No... now you are", Saikuron then vanished into a cloud of smoke, with no trace anywhere.

Shikamaru began to feel nervous as he felt the shadows growing weaker, one by one, until all that was left was his own shadow. Once they had all vanished, he heard a heavy breathing come from behind him, "What the?!"

It was Saikuron, his entire right side was beaten, burned, and bloody, but he smiled through what appeared to be pure agony, "Exact Copy Jutsu has a drawback... the user still feels the effects of the fatal blow, and if the blow isn't fatal, the copy will vanish after a short time. Those lamps were a good idea, unfortunately, lamps can be put out... especially if you take out all the oil"

Shikamaru was impressed, that was twice he had been countered without his intent to be in the same night, "You still have that injury"

"Every blow you've landed on me was a direct hit... and everything I've done until now... is about to pay off. Now!"

Shikamaru felt the ground beneath him shake, then he looked at it to see that it had been written on, down to an 'X' directly beneath his feet. Before he could move, a flash of light blinded him, once it had passed, he saw something odd; Saikuron was passed out on the ground, while a ghost-like version of him stood in his place, "This is a special genjutsu called 'Chakra Prison', the time it takes to set it up is about ten minutes, thirty if you have to make sure nobody sees you do it. Exact clone also lets the user feel the clone's pain, so it was no easy task, but now, any form of ninjutsu or genjutsu is useless. We fight with the formation of our chakras as if they were our bodies"

"So, the more chakra we have, the more powerful we are here?"

"No, the chakra you have is always proportional to you're natural state, you'd have to be a tailed beast to earn a small advantage here. Right now, you and I are equal, so in order to win, you and I will have to fight with nothing but sheer willpower and determination"

Shikamaru smiled, "Then this oughta be good!"

It was no more than a bare-knuckle brawl, the two of them were just fighting on a level where all either of them could do was get hit and hit back as hard as they could.

* * *

As Shikaku observed the small area where his son lay, unconscious, he was surprised, "That boy, Saikuron, was it? He must be a very talented shinobi"

Kirin smiled, "You'd think so, wouldn't you?"

Shikaku raised an eyebrow, "Are you saying he isn't?"

"He is today. But I still remember how he used to be, training every day like tomorrow was the end of the world, and he need to be a ninja before he died. He would work his body until he couldn't move anymore, then he would stare at useful reading materials until his eyes bulged out of his head"

"So he is a very hard-working boy?"

"He doesn't know the way to find an 'easy path'. I still can't count how many times I had to drag him home, out of the pouring rain, becuase he was too weak to walk. When he started out, he was just eight years old, and he was so weak, most people would've said he'd never make it as a ninja. His ninjutsus always went wrong, his genjutsus just gave him headaches, and his taijutsu could've been beaten by a kitten.

I told him myself that I wanted him to stop, because he would die before he ever got any better, and I really believed that. He didn't listen to me, he just kept training, all on his own, too afraid to go to a school to be taught. One night, he came home without me getting him, but it was because he dragged his bloody body through the door before I could go. He had been attacked by a group of rogues that were trying to rob him.

When the rogues who attacked him were found, all of them had been beaten to a bloody pulp, not a single one of them had walked away from the scene. They were ten years older than him, had way more strength, and almost killed him, yet he beat all seven of them and dragged himself home. The next day, he went back to training, like nothing had happened. I watched the interrogation of those rogues, do you know what the said to him, that provoked him into fighting back?"

"No"

"They said he would die a useless, pathetic pretender, and he would never be a real ninja. He's spent his entire life waiting for the moment he could become a shinobi, and prove to everyone, that even though he was raised being told he was worthless, he was worth more than they ever imagined"

"You're making me nervous about my boy down there"

"Don't worry, Saikuron couldn't kill anybody, not if his life depended on it"

Shikaku turned to the Raikage, "And your impression of the boy?"

The Raikage shook his head, "I watched the boy complete trainings that my ANBU wouldn't attempt. I've also seen him work himself into the ground, until his bones cracked and his blood covered his skin like sweat. But any time he ever spoke about being a shinobi, it was like a dream he thought he could never reach"

Naruto was surprised, "He was able to see through Shikamaru's plan, if anything's out of this guy's reach, I'd sure like to know what it is"

Lee felt himself tear up, "Go, Saikuron! I believe in you!"

* * *

Saikuron felt another hit directly connect against his body, he had never been on such a bad spot before. While they were moving at the same speed, Shikamaru's quick calculations put him in a good position to dish out some punishment. Shikamaru could read his moves and beat him to the punch.

Since they had started, Saikuron had recieved three times as many hits as Shikamaru had, and most of the ones Shikamaru had taken were blocked. Saikuron could feel the toll the fight was taking on his body, his hands were shaky and his knees were ready to give. Shikamaru sighed, "Ready to call it quits?"

Saikuron wiped the sweat off his brow, "Never… I won't ever give up… death will take me first!"

As he moved quickly, he began a barrage of punches, most of which Shikamaru blocked, but the final hit connected, knocking Shikamaru off of his feet. As he got up, Shikamaru spoke through a frustrated voice, "Now I see why you and Lee get along so well, you both fight like you've got the world on your shoulders… but I won't give up either!"

Saikuron felt his chakra begin to waver, he had been stressing it so much, since the very beggining, when he used the Exact Clone Jutsu, he had used up a lot of his personal chakra, and refused to take any from the world around him. But even with the intense pain, he charged forward with everything he had. Shikamaru was smart enough to land counter-blows, but Saikuron was making sure his hits counted.

He just kept at it, until he knocked Shikamaru of his feet so violently that Shikamaru was unable to get up for a moment, "Aaaaaaaaaagh!", Shikamaru saw that Saikuron's hand was bleeding and broken from having hit him so hard. Saikuron put his broken fist behind his back, "No! Don't think I'm gonna stop! I've come too far!"

Shikamaru saw images behind Saikuron, images of a young boy falling and hurting himself, of that boy bandaging his wounds and hitting his fist against a wall, tears streaming down his face. Shikamaru looked closely at them, "Saikuron, is that you? That boy crying, is that you?"

"In this space, when you start to come undone, you see what got you were you are. All those times I couldn't climb the flat wall… the times I my head crack from stressing it so much… the times I broke my bones and suffered all that pain without ever feeling any stronger… it wasn't for nothing!", though tears, he held up his other fist, "I may have started out weak, but I've earned my damn power, through fighting until there's nothing left to fight for! My despair is what drove me to keep fighting!"

Shikamaru felt moved, "Despair…?"

"For so long… it's all been out of my reach… but now… I can take it! Nothing will stop me! Not pain! Not weakness! Not fear! And certainly not you!"

Shikamaru felt the world stop as one of the images started moving. The young Saikuron was starting to walk up a wall, before he fell flat onto his face. He wiped a tear away and got up, "No… I gotta be able to do this! I won't give up!"

He didn't give up, he kept attempting it, until he was little more than a beaten mess on the ground. Sweat and blood dripped to the floor, but he still tried to push himself up, "N-No… can't… give… up…"

A man with brown hair and brown eyes helped him up, "Kirin told me you'd be here, why didn't you ask me for help?"

He answered as best he could as he was propped up against the wall, "Can't wait… have to learn faster… don't have a teacher…"

"Listen, I know why you can't go to the academy, but at least wait for me, alright? I can teach you-"

"No!", he began to tear up, "I need to… to be the best… I'm not good like you… I have to fight… just to keep up! I fight and fight, but I can't even walk up a wall! If I don't do everything I can… if I give up… then I'm worthless! Just like my parents said! Just like the teachers said when I didn't go to school! I'm not worthless! I can do this! I can be somebody!"

"You're already some-"

"No, I'm not! A nobody with a name that won't speak is still a nobody! I have to do it! I have to be the best, if I don't be the best, I'm just weak! I won't be weak! I'll keep getting stronger, no matter how long and hard it is! I want to see myself win! I want to be a winner! I'd live in pain for the rest of my life if I could just be the best!"

"I didn't-"

"You were gifted! It was easy for you! You had the skills to do this! I… I have nothing… no special talent that makes me better… I'm just afraid! I live… afraid to fail… afraid that they're right… afraid that no matter how hard I fight… I'll still just be that worthless nobody! It hurts that I keep hoping, like my hope just chips away at me every time I fall… but if don't have it, I'll stop trying, so I keep hoping… hoping that I'll do it! I have to believe… that someday… I'll be that shinobi! I won't just be good or great… I'll be the best! Even if I have to do it alone… I won't stop trying! I'll die first!"

The man patted him on the shoulder, "Well said, little brother. Why don't we get back to training, then?"

Saikuron smiled, "Yeah!"

"You want help up? You fractured your leg"

Saikuron let the man help him up, "Thanks, big bro!"

Shikamaru felt the match come back into focus, he saw the same look in the now fully-grown Saikuron, who was shouting with the same spirit, "I will win!"

Shikamaru stood up and gritted his teeth, he would give it his all during this match, out of sheer respect, but he knew something he didn't before; he had been a fool to take the match, he could never hope to win.

* * *

Naruto began to get concerned, "It's been over an hour since they fell, shouldn't we do something?"

Tsunade held her hand out, "Wait, look"

They all watched from a distance as the bloody, burned, beaten Saikuron stood up slowly. He slung the unconscious Shikamaru over his shoulder and proceeded to carry him through the forest. Once he reached the edge of the forest, he looked up into the trees, directly at the Raikage, "Raikage… A-Sensei… I did it… I'm a shinobi!"

Tsunade dropped a shinobi headband, "This belongs to you"

Saikuron caught it in his hands, as tears fell from his eyes, "This is… the greatest day… of my life… Kakuro… I did it…", with pure bliss on his face, he fell to the ground and passed out. The way the band looked in his hand…nothing could pry it from his hands, even if he would've died in that moment, the band would've been gripped just as tightly.

Cuan appeared in a cloud of smoke, sitting next to Saikuron on her knees, "I've got him", she began performing a healing jutsu, repairing his wounds surprisingly fast, "He'll be better by morning"

Shikamaru began to stir, his eyes fluttering open as he sat up, "Oh… he dragged me with him?"

Shikaku helped his son stand up, "You fought with everything you had, not only mentally, but physically. As a spectator, I can say that I could've predicted his movements about as well as you did. You fought well, Shikamaru, I am proud"

"I'm proud to have fought it"

"It was a troublesome fight, wasn't it?"

Shikamaru smirked, "No, the winner was decided before it ever began. It was nice and simple"

Naruto couldn't believe his ears, that was the hardest he'd ever seen Shikamaru fight, ever, and it _wasn't_ troublesome?! He looked Shikamaru over, "Are you alright, Shikamaru? He didn't hit your head too hard?"

The Raikage smiled, "That'a boy, Saikiron. I'm proud of you"

Tsunade smiled, "He certainly earned it"

Cuan smiled at them, "I can feel the happiness in his heart, it's a little overwhelming"

Ino stepped forward, "Cuan, do you want some help carrying him home?"

Cuan waved her hand, "No, I can do it!", Ino began sweating as she feebly attempted to pick him up. Cuan put her hands together, "Body Transformation!"

Ino watched in shock as she turned gorgeous into a teenager and carried Saikuron wife-style, "Did you learn that at the academy?"

"No, this isn't a jutsu, this is my real body"

Temari took notice of her chest, "Your real body…"

"I can be whatever age I physically want to be… why are you staring at me?!"

Ino and Temari couldn't stop staring at her chest, "Tell us your secrets…"

As Cuan took off with Saikuron, Lee smiled, "Tomorrow, we shall celebrate Saikuron's achievement!"

Guy held his fist up, "That's right, Lee! It will be just as wild as the party we had for you!"

Kakashi, fearing a repeat of all the strange and terrible things that had happened, stepped in, "Why don't we give him some time to rest before we do that?"

Tsunade stepped in, "Actually, there's a mission I would like for Saikuron to take the lead on. I can't have any other ninja from the Hidden Leaf take it, as the target may recognize our other shinobi. Additionally...", her temper began to rise, "Guy… I told you to go easy on the last party, and as a result, you destroyed six buildings. If anybody's throwing this party, it's not going to be you"

Guy sweated, "Pehaps I did let the last party get out of hand… and I'm not his teacher… but who else could do it?"

Kirin smiled, "I know just the guy for the job"

* * *

Saikuron awoke to find the headband in his hands. He smiled as he held it close to his heart, _'It wasn't just a dream… I really did it! I'm really a real ninja!'_, his brain was filled with happy thoughts as he turned to see Cuan sitting by his bed.

The little ten year old smiled, "Congratulations, master! I'm so happy for you!"

Saikuron smiled as he sat up, "Thanks, Cuan, it really means a lot, especially since you were there for me"

"It wasn't easy"

"All those times… when I tried to draw on my chakra, but I got nothing, because I had no specific style… all the times I failed at doing a genjutsu… and when I was too weak to do taijutsu… you were there the whole time, weren't you?"

"It was really amazing, watching you never give up, I wanted so hard to help you, but I didn't know how…"

He smiled and tussled her hair, "That's okay, you cheered me on! Even if I couldn't hear you, you were right there in my heart, willing me on!"

She hugged him, "And you did it, master! Not even the genius stopped you!"

"I only wish he was there to see it…"

"Yeah, Kakuro would've been amazed to see what you can do"

"I wonder where he is right now…"

"Probably on the other side of the world, spying on somebody or stealing top-secret files"

The two of them continued to think of the possibilities as someone knocked on his door. There was no voice, so Saikuron said, "Come in!"

As the door swung open, a thirty year old, grey-haired man with brown eyes smiled, "Hello, Saikuron, long time, no see"

Saikuron and Cuan were shocked, "Kakuro?! What are you doing here?!"

Kirin waved from behind Kakuro, "I told him you passed the exam to become a ninja, and he dashed here faster than I could ask him to come"

Kakuro seemed happy, "Come on, I've been waiting years for this! Everyone is downstairs, waiting for you!"

After a quick walk downstairs, Saikuron was greeted by three female shinobi; one from Kirigakure, one from Kumogakure, and one from Iwagakure. He smiled when he saw them all, "Shirani! Neela! Yamagari!"

All three of them stood up with a smile, "Saikuron!"

Kakuro patted him on the shoulder, "It's been a while since all six of us got together. Brings back memories"

Shirani held her thumbs up, "I told you that you could do it!"

Neela held up a cake, "I made you a congratulations cake!"

Yamagari looked at the room, "You even seemed to have even bought a nice house…"

Inoichi walked in from behind a door, "Actually, this is my home, although, I must say Saikuron, I had no idea your family was so big"

Saikuron smiled, "It's been a while since I've seen any of them, but I'm glad they're here"

Kirin stood next to her counterpart shinobi, "Well, don't just stand there! Put it on!"

Saikuron tied his headband around his neck like a badge of honor, "As of right now… I am a ninja of the Hidden Leaf!"

Kakuro patted his shoulder once again, "Well, hot damn! I think that the world is finally a better place!"

They all sat down as Neela cut the cake and took a slice. Saikuron teared up as he looked around the table, "I'm so happy… all you guys came to see me, now that I'm a ninja…"

Shirani tried to keep him from crying, "Don't start with the waterworks, we're proud to be here!"

"Shirani…"

Neela smiled, "She's right, little brother, if any of us deserved it, you did"

"I agree with them, my lord!", everyone turned to see the girl with purple hair who had just come through the front door, "You did deserve that honor, it was your birthright!"

Saikuron felt the color drain from his face as Yamagari looked her over, "Saikuron! Having your girlfriend refer to you as 'lord'! I'm both horrified and impressed"

The girl waved her hand as her face turned red, "No, no! I am not worthy of such an honor… I simply wished to congratulate my lord on his hard work and success!"

Cuan appeared in a cloud of smoke and pointed angrily, "We aren't going to be your object of worship!"

Yamagari blushed, "Two… and one of them is just a little girl… Saikuron, you really have changed…"

The purple haired girl bowed before Cuan, "Wolf spirit guardian, it is an honor to meet you. For your faithful service to my lord, I am eternally grateful, if there is anything I can do to appease you, say the word and it shall be done"

Cuan smiled, "Can you go buy me some candy?"

After a twelve second interval, she returned with a large bag full of treats, "Are these enough?"

Cuan looked at the large bag like a gold mine, "Yes…"

Saikuron held Cuan back as she started to drool, "Too much candy is bad for you"

The girl put the candy down and bowed before Saikuron, "Of course, please forgive my thoughtlessness, my lord, I won't do it again. Here, this is a map so that you may find your way home", she handed him a small scroll, "I hope to see you soon, my lord!"

With one last bow, she left the house, leaving Saikuron alone with his syblings. Yamagari looked at him, "Saikuron, not to pry, but you're still a virgin-"

He answered quickly and loudly, "YES! THE ANSWER IS YES!", he then proceeded to quickly grab the large bag of candy before Cuan could get her hands on it, "Cuan! I just told you not to eat all this candy!"

Cuan frowned and put up a set of puppy dog eyes, "Master… I promise I won't it eat all… just some…"

Saikuron was trying very hard not to give in, "No means no!", Cuan looked ready to cry, "Cuan… I'm not trying to be mean, I just want what's best for you, because I care about you. If you eat all this candy at once, you'll get sick. You can still have it, I'll just give you a few pieces at a time, alright?"

Cuan teared up and hugged him, "Master, you're so thoughtful! You protect me from myself… I'm gonna fight even harder to make sure I keep you safe!"

Saikuron tussled her hair, "I know you will. So why don't we have some cake?"

Kakuro tilted his head, "Is she your kid?"

"No, she-"

Cuan held her thumb up, "I am master's spirit animal guardian! Since birth, I have watched over him! Those who would seek to harm him, fear my wrath!"

Neela looked her over, "She's adorable! In a little white nightgown, her eyes twinkle, she's so cute I can't stand it!"

"I'm not cute! I'm a fierce wolf who isn't afraid to bite!"

Saikuron sighed, "If Neela says you're cute, there's no denying it. Besides, you're a little girl, you're supposed to be cute"

"I'll show you who's cute! Body Transformation!", Cuan changed into a beautiful teenage girl, "See! This is my real body! I'm not cute!"

Shirani gasped, "Oh my god… she is hot!", her face turned red as her nose began to bleed.

Kakuro held her back, "She just said she's a spirit, you can't have her"

"But that skin… that hair… she's PERFECT!"

"Shirani… restrain yourself a little, please, this is a party…"

Shirani wiped the blood from her nose, "I'm sorry… I couldn't help myself…"

Saikuron sighed, "I still see you haven't changed too much, Shirani…"

Ino sweated as she walked down the stairs, "So these are your syblings…"

Yamaragi squinted as she looked at Ino, "You there… you live here, do you not?"

Ino nodded, "Yeah…"

Yamaragi whispered into her ear, "If you're attempting to seduce my brother, you will need more than just skimpy clothes. Fear not, I have a collection of all of his weaknesses, and I am willing to aid you in this endeavor. As long as you stick to my plan, he will be yours by tomorrow"

Ino was skeptical, "Why would you do that? You don't even know me"

"No, but I am always searching for the one shinobi who might succeed wher I have failed. Every girl I've tried to send him has returned defeated… but now that he has aged a bit, you might stand a chance. He may have evaded my charms before, but I will make sure he succumbs to yours!"

Ino was a bit scared, "You really hate losing… don't you?"

"If I do not break him, I will die trying"

Saikuron calmed everyone down eventually and got them all to sit down. Once he passed all the cake out, everyone began eating. Shirani nudged at Saikuron's shoulder, "So… Saikuron… have you found someone?"

Saikuron smiled uneasily, even though Shirani was the sister he felt most comfortable talking to about this type of thing, it was hard for him to talk about, "More than one, actually…"

"Two?!"

"Three, actually…"

"Three?! Who are they?!"

"Well, Ino's one…"

"The other two?"

"You know Temari, from the Hidden Sand?"

"Really? I've never met her before, but I heard she was an amazing fighter"

"I've never seen her fight"

"So, who's the last one?"

"… The last one… the last person is always on my mind, the way they fight harder than logically required… so that they never forget just how important it is for them to fight with everything they have. They struggled just to be average, then they suffered indescribably painful agony… so they could be the best they could possibly be"

"Oh, Saikuron… that last one… sounds like they've got a good hold on you"

"Well… they made me less afraid… when I saw that strength… and learned that they had become that powerful of their own efforts, and nothing else… I felt hopeful. For the first time… since that day… I believed… in myself. I saw it in them… that hope that I'd lost… the hope to keep fighting for what you want most… even if it kills you"

Shirani held her heart still, "Saikuron… it sounds like you have yourself a winner!"

Saikuron blushed, "I'm not sure if it would work out, though…"

"Why the hell not?!"

"This person is… a guy… Rock Lee…"

Shirani raised an eyebrow, "You never let that bother you before… what's really bothering you?"

Saikuron looked down with sadness, "Lee's so fearless… I'm just afraid he won't feel the same way…"

"Little bro… I've seen you do things that blew my mind, and yet, you always doubt yourself. But from what I've seen, being in the Hidden Leaf… meeting Lee… it's made you see that you are capable of doing things you used to see as impossible. Hell, you took the exam in front of at least twenty people!"

"That… that was different… I had trained for that… for a really long time…"

"You trained your heart, too. You made yourself stronger, as a person, every time you pushed through and came home broken. Every time you felt pain beyond your body, you made that tireless muscle even stronger, and now, it's ready, to take on any challenge, even telling Lee how you feel"

Saikuron put his hand on his chest, "You're right… thanks, Shirani, I'm glad I have you to talk to"

"So… about Cuan…"

"She's not interested, you really scared the crap out of her"

"Aw… I didn't mean too…", Shirani looked sad, "Well, sometimes you screw up. Tell her that I'm sorry for scaring her, I won't do it again"

The chatter stopped as the door opened, Lady Tsunade walking through the door, "Saikuron! Are you ready for your first mission?"

Saikuron stood up with a wide smile, "Yes, ma'am!"


	5. Chapter 5

Saikuron looked over the map Tsunade had given him, based on the points where the agents had been discovered, there was only one place where the base of location for these unmarked ninjas could be. He remembered what she'd said, "Recently, there have been a few ninjas that have 'lost' things of important value to the history of this village. I have yet to confirm it, but I believe that these ninjas may be part of an organization that for whatever reason, is targeting the Hidden Leaf. Since this organization would recognize any of the ninjas I would usually ask to check it out, I need a new ninja with the skills neccessary to protect themselves from a potential threat. I need you to scope out the area and report back, without being seen, can you do it?"

Cuan looked at the map, "Hey, master, since we're done looking over this map, should we look at the other one, the one that girl gave you?"

Saikuron pulled out the scroll, "Well, it can't hurt to know where this shrine is, that would make avoiding it a whole lot easier", Saikuron opened the scroll to find it was encrypted, "This won't take long..."

Cuan looked at Saikuron as he tensed up and the color drained from his face, "What is it, master? Huh?", Cuan looked at the map, "No way!"

The location of the shrine... was the same as the target on Tsunade's map. Saikuron shook his head, "No way, this has to be a mistake! There's no way!"

Cuan looked scared, "Master, what if that girl is the one who keeps stealling the scrolls?"

"Hm... then we'll have to deal with her if we meet her tonight. Our job is just to scope it out, but if we happen to come across the scrolls, we'll retrieve them as well"

* * *

Saikuron looked to his teammates for the mission; Lee and Shikamaru. The only reason he had them by his side at all was because they had both volunteered, claiming they had nothing better to do. Saikuron smiled at them, "Thank you both for coming with me, it means a lot to me"

Shikamaru smiled, "Just remember, we've got your back, but if you decide to confront one of their members, you'll have to do it alone"

"Of course, the mission is to discreetly spy on them, if they saw either of you, the mission would be blown"

Lee held his thumb up, "Fear not! We will succeed!"

Saikuron eased his nervous stomach, "You're right, let's go!"

They began moving towards the target location quickly, jumping through the trees as fast as they could. Deep down, Saikuron was worried that they would find a huge shrine, but once they reached the target location, they found nothing more than an empty field. Saikuron wanted that to ease his mind, but he couldn't, he saw the signs all too well, even in the faint moonlight. Lee didn't, "There is nothing here..."

Saikuron pulled out a kunai, "Both of you, get back, this could get ugly, and you two need to stay hidden"

Shikamaru picked up on it, "The grass in the clearing isn't blowing in the same direction as the wind. There's a genjutsu masking the base. Saikuron, what are you thinking?"

"I'm gonna break the illusion, and see what I find"

Lee and Shikamaru nodded, "Good luck, we'll be here if you need us", they both moved away from his location.

When he was alone, he threw the kunai. It bounced off of a wall, shattering the illusion and revealling a temple as large as the Hokage's home. He watched as a masked ninja jumped off of the roof of the building towards him. Saikuron avoided the kunai throw towards him and landed on a different branch. When the masked ninja landed on the branch he'd been standing on, the ninja faced him, "You are provoking a force that is not to be reckoned with, if you wish to live, you will surrender peacefully"

Saikuron lifted a kunai, "I'm not scared of you. Return the scrolls you've taken from the Hidden Leaf and I will leave without further provoking you"

The ninja shook his head, "How dare you give me a command, I obey one master and one master alone"

Saikuron put his kunai away, "That master has been missing for a long time, hasn't he?"

The masked ninja tried to hide it, but he was surprised, "You will not speak of my master, or I will cut your tongue out"

"This master... he would be a young man now, with white hair and green eyes, wouldn't he?"

"You will not decieve me, I would recognize my master when he spoke to me"

Saikuron put his kunai away, "Is this enough?", he threw the scroll that had been given to him by the mysterious girl, and the masked ninja gasped as he looked at it, "I'm not a god, but the shinobi of the Hidden Leaf deserve to remember their history, I won't let you take that from them"

The ninja took a knee before him, "Please, my lord, forgive my insolense, I did not mean to offend you. If it is what you wish, I shall return the scroll immediately. I beg that you come inside, we have been awaiting your arrival for some time now"

Saikuron watched as the ninja jumped away, then as Lee and Shikamaru landed beside him. Shikamaru was confused, "From what I can tell, these people believe you to be their god, don't they?"

Saikuron looked down, "I'm sorry. A girl with a scroll that led to this location approached me and told me there was a shrine here built in my honor. I didn't think it was real..."

Lee looked at Saikuron, "This is highly unusual, but I believe the mission will become much easier now!"

The masked ninja returned, scrolls in hand, "Once again, I beg your forgiveness, my lord"

Saikuron handed the scrolls to Lee, "It's fine, I forgive you, just don't steal from the Hidden Leaf, alright? They're good people, or, most of them, at least"

The masked ninja looked at the two of them, "My pardons, master, but it would be wise not to bring outsiders into the temple"

"They're my friends and my teammates, they are special to me and I would happily trust them with my life"

The masked ninja's eyes went wide, "Once again, my apologies for underestimating that which I do not understand. Please, come with me"

They followed as he led them to a gigantic gate, where Lee held his thumb up, "Fear not! I will kick the gate open!"

The masked ninja held his hands up, "I must insist you allow me to do it, honored shield, I would be ashamed of myself if I allowed you to hurt yourself"

Shikamaru watched as he opened the door, "Did he just refer to us as your human shields?"

The masked ninja gestured towards the door, "Welcome home, my lord"

As they walked into the temple, they found it was split in half, one half of it was coated in pure gold, the walls decorated with several depictions of brave warriors fighting intense battles. The other half was a bright silver, with statues of proud and wise ninjas lining the walls. Each side was lined with servants dressed to match their side, who looked at Saikuron with anticipation, "Welcome home, my lord!"

Lee marveled at the sight, "This is a very fancy place!"

Shikamaru looked away from the bright lights, "These lights are troublesome... they make my eyes hurt"

Saikuron withheld his instant desire to run or faint, "H-Hello..."

The mysterious girl with purple hair dashed in from a door on the far side of the room, "My lord, you've returned! This is a glorious day! We must celebrate your return with wonderous festivities!"

"W-Wait... are you sure I'm the one you're looking for?"

She quickly turned him around and lifted his shirt to reveal his birthmark, "Yes! It is you! There could be no other! Without doubt, you are our lord!"

Saikuron pulled his shirt down, "Why am I your lord?"

She pointed to the golden side of the room, "The ninja of the sun, those who descended from the original, who was born of the sun godess's womb. They are demigods that walk among us, spreading joy and warmth", she pointed to the silver side, "The ninja of the moon, those descended of he fathered by the moon god. They are demigods who hide in the shadows, and watch over the world with care and wisdom, protecting the innocent. These two were once seperate families, but through you, my lord, they have become one"

"T-Through me?"

"Yes. Your mother was the late shinobi of the light, your father was the shinobi shrowded in darkness, you are both the yin and the yang, the complete one. In your own right, you are a god, my lord"

Lee patted Saikuron's shoulder, "Saikuron, why did you not tell me you are a god? This is a very important piece of information!"

Saikuron was getting really nervous, "I-I'm not a god..."

The girl smiled and giggled, "Oh, humble lord, does your kindness know no boundaries?"

"It looks like you beat me to the punch again, little brother"

Saikuron turned around to see Kakuro standing behind him. The girl smiled, "Kakuro! You have returned just in time! Now we can commence with the celebrations!"

"Layla, it would be best if I spoke with him about things first, we can continue the festivities afterward"

Layla smilled and nodded, "Very well, we will make preperations as you speak!"

Saikuron was in shock as Kakuro led him, Lee, and Shikamaru to the roof. Saikuron could only say what his brain barely understood, "Kakuro... is what she said true?"

Kakuro let a small smile sllip, "Yeah, it is"

"And you knew?"

"From the moment I met you, I knew who you were"

"... Where am I supposed to start? You watched me suffer... you let me feel all that pain... and you said nothing?"

"I was forbidden to. If I had said so much as a word to you about the identity of your parents or you, I would've been silenced. My job was to make sure you grew up to be a powerful ninja, so that you could accept your destiny. When I saw how you were, I thought I'd have my work cut out for me, then I saw you train, day after day. In no time at all, with nothing more than a single word of encourgement, you surpassed me, your strength was greater than mine, and you didn't need me. At that point, I started to believe you really were a god"

"But-"

"That was when my back was broken... when my head was injured to the point that nearly all my muscle memory was erased. I didn't know how to walk, and even if I did, my body wouldn't have responded to my mind, anyway. I gave up, satisfied that you would become a great god, but you wouldn't let me. When you came to visit me in the hospital, I told you that I quit, that you would be greater than I could ever imagine, and that you should just forget about me. I tried to make you hate me"

"For the longest time, I did... because everything was so easy for you... and I had to work so hard... just to fall short of you at every turn"

"Then, in that hospital room... you broke your sealed chakra, you forced me out of the bed and told me I had no right to quit, that it was supposed to be hard, that's why I would be just as great as you were. For three months, you made me struggle through harsh failure... until I learned to walk again. You fixed my life, pushing your training to be twice as hard, just so that you would be able to help the medical ninjas heal me. Then you dedicated all the time you had left to help me learn to live again"

"Becuase... that's what family does... it goes beyond reason... and fights against the impossible... that's how miracles are made"

"You were my miracle. I was born gifted and grew up believing that I would train someone even more gifted than me... and I hated that my life was just going to be a passing moment in your eyes. Then I met you... a kid with no skills whatsoever that couldn't even throw a kunai... and you looked up to me like I was a god. You then hated me... because no matter what you did, you felt so hopeless when it came to fighting me... because I, drunk off the power, would never hold back. Then I became worse off than you, and you went beyond what I could dream of doing... and you stopped everything... to make me stronger. You forgave my sins and blessed me with the gift of a better life... if you ask me, heretage or not, you are a god"

"...", Saikuron was speechless, "Who else knew...?"

"Just Layla. She's watched you since you were just a small boy. She's your age, but like you, she worked hard to become a wonderful ninja, and in doing so, earned the right to watch you. She deeply cares for your well being, and believes just as much as I do that you're the god that gave her the blessings in her life"

Shikamaru stepped forward, "How could you tell he was a god? I'm curious to know"

"Secret of the Hidden Sun, it's a jutsu you must learn in the shrine to perform. Speaking of the shrine, Saikuron, they at least deserve to meet you, they've been waiting their whole lives. Come, I will give the toast"

As Kakuro walked down the stairs, Lee looked to Saikuron, "What will you do?"

Saikuron knew what he was going to do, he could never leave those who'd been suffering through the pain of hoping indefinitely, it was a pain he'd never wish on anybody, "I... I'm going to see them. They shouldn't have to spend every day waiting for a man who won't come, and I won't make them"

Shikamaru and Lee followed him as he walked down the stairs, finding that the people of the shrine had set forth a huge table filled with food and drinks. Kakuro waved Saikuron over as he began his toast, "All of us are here because we believe in one thing; the shinobi of the sun and moon. When I first saw Saikuron... I was shocked, I had no idea if my faith was right or wrong. But then... Saikuron went above and beyond everything I'd ever expected from him, and he made my faith a solid bond that I now treasure as much as life itself. All hail, our glorious lord, Saikuron!"

The people all cheered and clinked glasses. Shikamaru watched as Saikuron picked up a glass, "Um... there's something I want to say. When I was young... no... until very recently, I believed I was a worthless loser. My will to live was weak, and my drive to grow stronger was the only thing that kept me going. In fact, there are many points in my life where I could've given up on life. I forced myself to train, to get stronger, even though I believed that none of it would ever make me anything more than a tough nobody. Then, a close friend of mine sent me to the Hidden Leaf village, where I met Rock Lee, the ninja that became who he is by never giving up.

He only used taijutsu, a feat no other ninja had done before. When I saw him... I started to think about how he must've started out... no skills at all... just like me. That made me feel hope, a feeling that I'd long since given up on. Shikamaru gave me a challenge that proved not only to everyone else, but to myself, that I was a great ninja, and that it came because I had earned it, and for no other reason at all. So, while I am happy to see that all of you care about me, this toast... I want to dedicate it to Lee and Shikamaru... those two are the reason... that I am a ninja today"

The entire room clapped and whistled and cheered for Shikamaru and Lee. Saikuron knocked back the glass and smiled. Lee was going to pick up a glass when Shikamaru stopped him, "It would be troublesome if you had any Lee, the building is still standing"

Lee frowned, "You are right… but still, I am happy to have helped you so much, Saikuron! I consider you a very dear friend as well!"

Shikamaru smiled, "You're not a troublesome guy, Saikuron, I'd claim you as a friend"

Layla came before them, "Lord Saikuron! Would it be alright if we marked your return with the activation of your godly blood?"

Saikuron was confused, "Godly blood?"

"Yes, the power of those above mortal men, it flows within you, would you allow me to activate it and release a small portion of your power?"

"Um… okay…?"

Layla placed her hands on his heart, "May the sun and the moon move with the motion of this muscle, may their light reach the hearts of all those Saikuron may meet. The eight gates burst open as he charges into battle! No opponent may stand before you! Awaken, my dear god!"

Saikuron felt his entire body fire up as all his inner eight gates were forced open, and his body began to glow with a bright light, "What is this?!"

"The power of life around you is melding into your chakra! Your limits are no more! You have transcended beyond human capabilities and become a god!"

Saikuron was shocked by his own power, he wouldn't have been able to suppress it if he wanted to. The only thing that snapped him out of it was the appearance of two new sources of incredible power; one to the left, and one to the right.

The one on the left was a bright, beautiful woman with green eyes, in a shining dress, "It seems he takes after both of us"

The one on the left was a tall, handsome man with white hair, cloaked in a black hood, "So it would appear…"

Saikuron looked at them, "Who are you?!"

The woman sighed, "Well, he hasn't been taught who we are, so I guess I can't be mad…"

The man removed his hood, "A child should recognize his parents… although in his case, we would be his second set, so we can forgive him"

Saikuron didn't understand, "Parents?"

The woman smiled, "As both a human and a god, you have two bodies; that of the flesh, and that of godly proportions"

The man remained expressionless, "While your godly body is very weak, with some training and help, it can become permanent and strong. It is time, we are here to teach you how to become a god, son"

Saikuron knew how he felt, but he couldn't say it with words. After an amazing flash of light, Saikuron had successfully dispersed his godly aura, effectively draining his body to the point he fell to his knees. Despite that, he looked up at the two gods, "I am… not a god… my strength comes from those around me… but not through their chakra… it's through their hearts. My strength… isn't something I was handed… I built it off of my pain and sorrows… and there's no power I'd rather have… even if it makes me weaker"

The two gods smiled and spoke in unison, "A fine power it is… should you ever need us, pray for our help, and it shall come"

As they vanished, Shikamaru and Lee steadied Saikuron. Lee became worried, "Saikuron, are you alright?!"

Layla held her hand over her mouth as she looked at him, "He must be out cold… he dispersed the chakra back to its place and closed the eighth inner gate…"

Shikamaru's eyes went wide, "The gate of Death?!"

"As a god, his godly blood keeps his body in a state where the chakra cannot burn through his muscles, because his muscles grow indefinitely, death cannot touch him. The only way for him to disperse the aura, is for him to return the chakra to its original place, but that would require him to draw upon his own energy. Even though it is greatly increased, it would take everything he has to return to normal… he will probably sleep until morning"

"That's incredible…"

Layla began to cry, "My dear lord… has blessed me with a small portion of his chakra… at the cost of his own strength… please, I will carry him to his bed for the night. Feel free to stay as well, honored guests"

While they found their beds to be comfortable, the two of them didn't get much sleep; they were too worried to sleep.

* * *

Saikuron opened his eyes to find Cuan standing over him, "Master! You're awake!"

He groaned, his entire body felt like it had been beaten beyond the point of death, "Cuan…"

She smiled, "Look, Master! I have a real body! Now you don't have to hold me in your mind anymore! When you put that other chakra back, you made me a body of my own, too!"

He smiled through his silent agony, "That's wonderful… now you can get even stronger…"

Layla made herself seen as she looked at him over his bedside, "My lord, I'm sorry, I had no idea you would want to disperse the aura…"

"It's okay… I know you meant well"

"I will now leave you, so that you may rest"

Saikuron raised his hand, as a wave of pain shot through his body, "Wait!"

Layla turned around quickly, "What is it, my lord?"

"There was something… I wanted to ask you…"

"Ask away, my lord, I will answer as best I can"

"Layla… how do you feel… about me?"

"M-My lord… I am but a simple servant, I love you as a master…"

"No, don't lie. You're making your heart hurt by doing that. Push past your fear, and let the pain fade away"

Layla began to cry over his bed sheets, "My lord… you are so kind… you would give me such a gift as courage. Since the first time I saw you, I was captured by your caring nature… you would give even your food away to the hungry and less fortunate before you would even take a bite. You were smart… know just how to make the people around you smile, even if they were having deep troubles. And you were strong… fighting to be more than anyone said you could be… to be even stronger… just like I did…

You've had my heart in the palm of your hand since the second I laid my eyes on you… but I know that you are a god, and that you cannot favor one living creature over every other…"

Saikuron held his hand to her eyes, "Layla… god or not… there's no excuse for anyone to ever put another person through that pain… especially a strong person like you"

"My lord…"

"You deserve someone who will ease your pain, who'll make you happy, and never let you go…you deserve a real god"

She cried as she hugged him tightly, "My lord… to hear you say such things… it makes me feel so happy…"

He looked her in they eyes, "While I had that aura… I could feel you in my heart… I could see how much you cared… it was the strongest source I had. Here, place this on the floor"

She took the small piece of paper from his hand and placed it on the floor, "What is this?"

Her question was answered as the Chakra Prison formed, and they stared at each other's chakra formation of will, "This is a place where a person's chakra can manifest. This makes it a place where those inside are at their weakest… they are vulnerable to anyone else inside the prison. Their chakras can interact and even mix. Here, I offer my heart to you, Layla"

Layla began crying as she held him once more, "This… isn't a dream, right?"

"Pinch yourself, I promise it'll be real"

"This is… more than I could've hoped for…!"

Saikuron placed his hands on her, "If you would like… we could… mix chakras"

"Yes! My lord… but… forgive me, it will be my first time"

"Mine, too"

She boldly grabbed his shoulders, "Please… be one with me… my lord…"

With a single movement, the two of them entered a state of ecstasy, that ran throughout their entire bodies, "L-Layla… are you alright?"

Through pain and pleasure, Layla answered, "I-I am fine… please continue…"

After enough time had passed, they returned to their real bodies, and Saikuron was anchored down by his pain, "Layla… I love you…"

Layla smiled through her happy tears, "I love you, too… Saikuron"

With the bliss still encasing them both, she fell asleep in his arms. Cuan smiled as she looked at the two of them, "Finally, he picked somebody!"

* * *

Shikamaru looked to Lee, who had just returned to the temple, "Did you deliver the scrolls?"

Lee held his thumb up, "Yes! Lady Tsunade has been informed of the situation, and is currently awaiting our return!"

Saikuron smiled, "Then we should go see her, shouldn't we?"

Lee was surprised, "Saikuron! You have recovered!"

"My godly blood apparently allows me to recover at an inhuman rate. Shall we go?"

Shikamaru raised his eyebrow, "What about the temple?"

"The people of the temple now hold a piece of my chakra in their hearts, so they're never without me"

"What about her?"

Saikuron smiled as he looked at Layla, "She's special to me, and she really would like to come with us"

Layla blushed, "I-I would like to follow… S-Saikuron… to walk alongside him"

Shikamaru shrugged, "Whatever, let's go"

* * *

Saikuron finished explaining the details of the mission to Tsunade, "… and then we came here"

Tsunade rubbed the sides of her head, "So… why did they take the scrolls, agian?"

Layla spoke up, "We were concerned for Saikuron's safety in the hands of the Hidden Leaf, therefore, we wished to see its history and culture, to better understand it"

"And you are?"

"I'm Layla… Saikuron's…", she turned red as she tried to think of the words.

Saikuron stepped forward and took her hand, "She's my lover"

Layla turned beet red, as Tsunade shook her head, "Alright, I've had enough for one day. Why don't you go and take today off, it sounds like you could use the rest"

Saikuron smiled, "Thank you, Lady Tsunade"

"Just try not to upset Ino if you're taking that girl with you"

"I'm not living at Ino's house anymore"

"Then... where are you staying?"

"I rented a hotel room. If you need me, I'll be training woutside of the village, just a little off the pathway to the Hidden Sand"

"Training for what?"

"Well... I promise I'll show you what it is as soon as I master it"

Layla smiled, "It is a wonderful jutsu, I am sure you will be proud to have it within your arsenal"

Tsunade squinted, she didn't like being kept out of the loop, "Why are you training so far away?"

Saikuron scratched the back of his head, "Well, since I'm still just a beginner, it'll take some practice to get it right, and I don't want to accidentally hit someone with it"

"Hm... just how big of a radius do you need to practice safely?"

"I've already found a place with a kilometer-sized radius"

Tsunade was a bit shocked, but even if he were attempting a tailed beast bomb, he would definetly have enough space to practice, "Just don't hurt yourself, arlright?"

* * *

Shikamaru looked around the empty rock floor, "Remind me why I'm here again"

Saikuron smiled, "There's nothing out here that you could use to increase the power of your shadow jutsus. As your teammate, I've found a way to resolve this issue"

"How?"

Saikuron began doing hand seals, "Light-Bending Jutsu!"

As he shouted, Shikamaru's shadow increased in size, until it was larger than a house, "What the...?"

Saikuron smiled as it grew further, "By manipulating the angle of the light that's hitting your body, I can increase the size of your shadow, naturally strengthening your jutsu"

Shikamaru held his thumb up, "Cool stuff. That could come in handy during an infiltration assignment"

Saikuron broke the jutsu and smiled, "Glad you like it. Now that we've got that out of the way, there's something else I wanted to show you"

Shikamaru raised his eyebrow, "What else did you get out of that awakening?"

"It increased my ability to hold chakra tremendously, and that's why I can do this next move. Do you have a lighter that you always keep on hand?"

Shikamaru tossed him Asura's lighter, "What are you going to do with it?"

"This is a forbidden technique, but I think I can handle it, come here"

Shikamaru eyed the lighter, "What's this jutsu, anyway?"

"It's called chakra imbuing, it allows me to imbue your chakra into an object, making it the perfect tool for you"

"Why would that be forbidden?"

"If you can't handle the amount of chakra that needs to be held during the imbuing, you can damage yourself permanently. Additionally, this jutsu isn't just limited to objects, if you wanted to, theoretically, you could transfer all of your chakra into another person, effectively switching places with them"

"That makes sense... so how does it work?"

Saikuron held the lighter tightly in his left hand, placing his left hand over Shikamaru's heart, "Breath slowly, and do not suppress your chakra, that way I can collect the excess"

After a few moments, Saikurons skin began to turn black, as if Shikamaru was casting a shadow across his arm. Once the shadow reached the lighter, it began to cover it, centering on it. When the entire shadow covered the lighter, Saikuron let his hand fall off Shikamaru's chest and began breathing hard. Shikamaru kept Saikuron from falling over, "Are you alright?"

Saikuron held up the lighter, "Here... this lighter now burns... just like your will of fire"

Shikamaru felt it as he took the lighter in his hand, it now held great power, "This is..."

"My gift to you... whew... that was a little more exhausting than I expected"

"See, now you're becoming troublesome"

"Can't quit yet... still got another jutsu to practice today"

"What more could you possibly do?"

Saikuron steadied himself and smiled, "There's a jutsu that only I can use... I never use it... because I used to think I couldn't control it. But that was a long time ago, now, I know I can do this"

"Do what?"

Saikuron placed his hands together, "Absolute Chakra Style: Inner Chakra Release!"

Shikamaru watched as Saikuron's chakra grew insanely fast, to the point where even the ground beneath his feet began to fade under his tremendous power. This power wasn't like the one he had exhibited in the shrine, it wasn't an amalgamation of the chakra around him, it was all his own chakra, and the most terrifying part was... it was even more powerful than that transformation. Saikuron jumped high into the air, nearly a kilometer high, then he shot down towards the earth at blinding speed, even Lee wouldn't have been able to match his speed. The most devestating part was, the moment he touched the ground, he stopped all the motion behind him, using no more than his finger, as a massive crater formed around it. Once he dispersed the aura, he looked back to Shikamaru, who was speechless, "Whoa..."

Saikuron held his thumb up, "This... is the result of all of my training, with all the limiters on my body removed. My inner chakra is at it's maximum capacity, and my body doesn't feel any pain"

It was really impressive... at least until Saikuron collapsed inside the crater. That was when Layla dove into the crater and cradled his head, "My silly lord... you are so trusting..."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "Will he be alright?"

"Yes, he will be fine, but he is defenseless for now, if you don't mind, I think that is all my lord will be able to do today"

Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders, "If you want help, I could help you carry him"

She smiled, "No, it's fine. Through my intense trainings, I have become stronger than I look. I have burdened him enough today"

"What does that mean?"

Layla pulled a small necklace from underneath her shirt, "I found it while he was asleep, he told me that it had always been an inspiration to him. After that, he imbued it with my chakra and gave it to me as a gift. With this, I will fear nothing, for my lord is watching over me"

Shikamaru thought it over, "Cool. Alright, I'll leave it to you"

* * *

Temari hesitated to knock on the door, she had recieved an invitation to visit Saikuron in his new home, but she was still unsure of where she stood in his heart. She cast aside her thoughts and knocked at the door, "Saikuron, are you there?"

He answered weakly, "Yeah, hold on..."

Temari blushed as she realized she would be alone with him... in his apartment. She was about to turn and run when the door was opened by a girl with purple hair, who was wearing nothing more than a bedsheet, "Ah! You must be Temari! Please, come in, my lord has been waiting for you!"

Confused, shocked, and upset, Temari found herself sitting on a table across from Saikuron, who was fully dressed, if not somewhat beat up, "Hey, Temari"

"Um... Saikuron... who is that girl?"

Layla smiled, "I am Layla, my lord is very happy that you could come, miss Temari, he has been talking about you for some time now"

Temari's anger began to be audible in her voice, "Why is she naked?!"

"Even though he would never admit it, I know that this pleases my lord", she kissed him on the cheek and left to another part of the apartment.

Temari fought her urge to reach for her weapon, "Care to explain?"

Saikuron started from the moment he first met Layla and explained everything, not leaving out a single detail, "... so, now you know everything I do"

"A... a god?"

"That's just blood, it doesn't mean much to me. I'd rather not be one, but I can't deny what I am, even if I don't intend to use it"

"So... you... love... Layla?"

"Yeah, I do"

"But, you still love me?"

"Of course"

"And you called me here to tell me this?"

"Actually, there's something else I called you here for"

"W-What's that?"

"I need your help"

"With what?"

"There's a jutsu I need to train. Not the technique, but I want to make myself strong enough to deal with its aftershock"

"That... Inner Chakra Release you were talking about?"

"Yeah, it drains the user of their strength greatly, leaving them with almost nothing. I need you to fight against me after I disperse it, so that I'll be able to defend myself, even after the jutsu is over"

"W-Why me?"

"I know that you're strong, and I can trust you to make me work hard without killing me"

"W-What about Layla... why can't she do it?"

"Layla is anemic, if I accidentally hit her too hard, I could kill her. Temari, please, I can't think of anyone else that could help"

Temari sighed, "Fine, but I won't train you alone, Gaara and Kankuro will help"

"Thank you, Temari, this really means a lot to me...", Saikuron's eyes fluttered shut as he fell asleep in his chair. That was when Temari realized that his skin was much paler than she remembered.

Layla walked back in, "Oh, dear, it looks like my lord has reached the limit of his endurance. I apologize, but he must rest now"

Temari was surprised at the state he was in, "What happened to him?"

"He used the Inner Chakra Release, and as you can see, it has taken its toll on his body. I'm amazed he was awake the entire time he waited for you, but then again, that's my lord for you"

Temari stood up to leave when Saikuron held his hand in the air, "Wait... the dress..."

Temari quickly pulled the tattered dress she'd been asked to bring out of her bag, "This?"

Saikuron weakly held it in his left hand, "Come here...", she did as he instructed and he placed his hand over her heart, "Chakra... Imbueing... Technique..."

Temari watched as the dress began to glow, until it transformed into an even more beautiful dress, the blue ruffles lined with small blades which sparkled in the light. Saikuron placed it in her hands, and she just marveled at it, "This is..."

Saikuron fell out of his chair, Layla caught him with a smile, "Oh my, it seems you are very special to my lord. He just imbued that dress with your chakra, it is now a part of you, when you wear it, you will be able to perform feats you never imagined possible. He has only ever performed this for a handfull of people, those he cares for without limit. Though it is not my place, I ask that you hang onto that, and treasure it"

Temari looked at the dress, then placed it within her bag, "I will"

* * *

As Kankuro hit the floor for a fifth time, he got mad, "This is a rigged match! Where the hell did you learn to do all of that?!"

Temari smiled as she stood, elegantly poised in her dress, "Right here, while I had a great practice dummy"

"I'm not your target! And why are we training right now, anyway?!"

Gaara helped Kankuro up, "We have undertaken the task of training Saikuron to fight, even after being completely wiped of all strength. While it may sound easy, Saikuron is a very resourcefull individual, we must prepare ourselves for anything"

Temari smiled, "That's right, Kankuro, so get ready for another round!"

Kankuro whispered to Gaara, "Bro... please take a round... I'm begging you"

Gaara smiled, "Sorry, but she's punishing you for spying on her date. That, and that extremely useful dress she's wearing seems to be a weapon she wishes to test. This is your battle, I can't fight it for you"

Kankuro sighed, "Why me...?"

* * *

Ino sighed, she had been spending a lot of time with Saikuron's sisters, but all that got her was a pile of information she didn't know if she should classify as negative or useless. Shirani told her he might be gay, Neela said he looked adorable in a dress, and Yamagari insisted that she could train Ino to seduce him. Kirin was just watching and laughing the whole time. Where was Ino supposed to go with this? She didn't have a clue.

Not that it mattered much, she was stuck working at the flower shop. Her demeanor was brightened as Cuan walked through the door, licking an ice cream cone, "Hi, Ino!"

"Hey, Cuan, what are you doing here?"

"Master's really tired, he's weak right now because he used a special jutsu that wiped out all his strength"

"Will he be okay?"

"Yeah, he just needs to rest. I came to pick up some medicinal herbs"

"Hey, Cuan, you know Saikuron pretty well, what should I do to get closer to him?"

"Well... I would suggest you mate with him, but master probably wouldn't like that at random... why don't you try training with him? Master is always happy to train with people, and he feels closer to people he trains with"

"That's not a bad idea… but what kind of training would we do? All of his techniques and workouts are way tougher than any of mine"

"Then train him to do something he doesn't know how to do"

"Like what? He's practically talented at everything!"

"Not really, anything he's good at, he originally sucked at. His natural talent is through the floor, but if you ask him to learn it with you, he'll probably become amazing at it"

"Well, you would know more about what he sucks at than me, any suggestions?"

"Hm… he's really bad at roller skating"

"Roller skating?"

"Yeah, the last time he did it, he landed on his face so many times, he almost started crying"

"Why would I want him to go through something like that?!"

"Because he will. That's how master is, he'll push on through anything, all he needs is a reason to start pushing. And when you fight for something because someone you love wants you to, doesn't that make the love a lot stronger?"

Ino thought about it, "But I would feel bad, making him go through that…"

"Why? Love is supposed to hurt, or at least, that's what master told me. Everything can't be perfect all the time, not even caring about someone a whole, whole lot will make everything you do for them perfect. But because it sucks, or hurts a whole lot, it means even more"

"You know what, you're right! I'm going to ask him right after my shift is over!"

"All right! I'll make sure master doesn't make himself too tired before you can come over!"

"Thanks, Cuan!"

* * *

Cuan started to sweat as she watched Saikuron get knocked down again. Though his release was as breath-taking as always, once it was over, he was completely hopeless. It was just Kankuro, but Saikuron was having trouble just blocking incoming attacks, never mind countering them.

For Cuan, it was painful to watch, every hit was another she wanted desperately to intercept, but each time she took a step forward, Layla blocked her path, "I know how you feel, but this is his will, we cannot interfere"

Cuan groaned, "I hate that you're right…"

Layla tried to put up a smile for Cuan, but as she watched Saikuron get knocked down again, she tried to convince herself what she said was right. Kankuro sighed, "Dude, I think that's enough for today"

Saikuron stood up and wiped the blood from his lip, "Don't… count… on it…"

Kankuro raised his puppet, "Fine then, have it your way"

The puppet dashed towards Saikuron, who met it head-on with a pull that threw him forward. By the time Kankuro realized what he was up to, he was starting to black out. As the oxygen-deprived Kankuro fell to the floor Saikuron trembled, "Next… oppon…nent…"

Gaara was about to step forward, but Temari held her arm out in front of him, "No, I'll go"

Gaara gave her a silent nod and stepped back, "Good luck"

Temari was quick, creating a distance between her and him, all the while using her fan to cause enough external damage to keep him in check. As he slammed into the wall, Saikuron panted heavily, "The… dress… use… it…"

Temari stood firmly, "No. You can barely fight as it is"

Saikuron fell to his hands and knees, the weight of his body beggining to become heavier. Using what little strength he had, he crawled to a nearby tree and pulled himself up. Temari wanted so hard to look away, but she knew that if she did, he would somehow blindside her. What she didn't see coming was the Saikuron's clone, that stole her fan from behind her and tossed it over to the beaten original.

Temari gritted her teeth, the clone was only around long enough for it to steal away her weapon, leaving her defenseless as she stared at Saikuron, "The dress… no choice… now…"

Temari sighed as she took off her outer layer of clothes, revealing her amazing dress beneath. Somehow, the dress was almost like a second layer of skin to her, making her feel a little vulnerable in it, even though she knew she was more powerful with it. She sighed, "I didn't want to do this…"

Saikuron gave her a faint smile, "I know… but it needs to be done…"

Temari began spinning in her dress, the ruffles altering the wind around her, "Typhoon Dance!"

She was enveloped in devastating winds as she began moving in his direction. Saikuron smiled as he placed himself against the tree. Even though Temari was closing in on him at an alarming rate, he didn't move at all. Temari was able to hold up the dance until the tree he had been resting on was uprooted from the ground, and he was thrown high into the air. She stopped to attempt to catch him, but unfortunately for her, another clone hit several pressure points before she could do anything, effectively rendering her unconscious.

When Saikuron hit the ground, his clone vanished, the sound of impact was loud enough to be heard roughly three hundred hards away. Gaara squinted, but he stayed a good distance away from him, "Do you still wish to continue?"

Gaara was shocked as he saw a thumbs up come from the beaten Saikuron, "You... know it..."

Gaara took a single step forward, "Then who will take the offensive?"

Saikuron knew his chakra had been exhausted, his body was screaming in pain, "I'll take the offensive"

Gaara watched as Saikuron pitifully threw two kunai directly at his eyes, it was so slow an attack, he almost didn't need the sand to intercept it. Once the sand was gone from in front of his eyes, Gaara was surprised to see that Saikuron had escaped his field of vision, "Hiding will not protect you"

"Who's hiding!?", Saikuron somehow managed to get in close enough to Gaara to land a hard kick on his head. Though he was wearing his sand armor, Gaara felt the kick all the same.

Using his sand to create a distance between them, Gaara put himself a comfortable distance away from Saikuron. Gaara ran through the attack in his head and found an answer, _"The kunai... he must've used my sand guard to cloud my vision, then get in close for a single swift strike. It looks like I'll have to be careful here, or he'll defeat me fairly quickly. Even in that much pain, he's capable of quick strikes, so I'll have to corner him without getting close..."_

Gaara raised his hands, "Sand Tsunami!"

Saikuron did his best to evade it, but in no time at all, the sand wave had him backed up against a wall. He watched as it came crashing down in his direction, he had no jutsu he could use at this level of exhaustion... his body was too slow to evade the attack... he dug deep, looking for any trace of chakra within him, any at all that he could use to dig himself out of this situation. But no matter how much he clawed and raked, he couldn't find any at all, he really had nothing left. Threw logic to the wind and began using his hand seals, one after the other, forming the position he had in mind with his seals. Just as the wave was about to crash down on him, he did the final seal he would need to reach the position he had in mind.

He slammed is hands together, "Absolute Zero Chakra Style: Transportation Jutsu!"

Gaara watched in shock as Saikuron appeared behind him, "What?!"

Gaara turned to block an incoming punch, but found that the Saikuron he had seen vanished. It was then that Gaara felt a blow land hard on the back of his head. Not even the armor was enough too keep him conscious, he was out like a light the second he hit the floor. Saikuron smiled as he looked over at Cuan and Layla, "Hey... told you I could do it..."

As he fell backwards, his vision went dark, Saikuron had truly reached his limit. He was unconscious before his legs gave out, luckily, someone was there to catch him. As Kankuro began to stir, he saw the scene before him, "Ka... Kakashi?"

The white-haired ninja smiled, "I heard something on my way back to the Hidden Leaf... I certainly didn't expect to see all of this, but by the looks of it, he gave you quite the run for your money..."

"He's good... even after he's used his trump card... he managed to defeat us..."

"I see... well, I've got time to make sure everyone gets home safely-"

"There's no need", Kakashi turned to see Gaara, completely free of injury, "His follower is a very capable medical ninja, I dare say the best that I have ever seen"

Layla smiled as she blushed, "As an assistant of my lord, I am expected to be on par with his needs"

Kakashi took a closer look at Saikuron, and found that the boy was actually hurt fairly badly, "Most of his muscles are torn and his chakra is nearly gone..."

Layla gently took Saikuron and laid him out over the floor, as she began to mend his broken body with ease, "Don't worry, I can fix him up, no problem"

Kakashi was surprised at her skills, "You really are good at this... where did you learn to do all of this?"

Layla smiled, "I had to teach myself"

Kakashi revealed his Sharingan to see that Saikuron was fully recovered, then he noticed a small presence next to Saikuron, "Who are you?"

Cuan revealed herself, her genjutsu having been exposed, "I-I am Cuan... I am my master's guardian"

Kakashi watched as Saikuron got up, aided by Cuan and Layla, "Well, Saikuron, it looks like you have a tightly-knit team there"

Saikuron smiled, "Yeah... although, I have to admit that we aren't very high ranked ninjas..."

Kakashi had a lightbulb moment, "Don't tell me... all three of you are just gennin?"

Saikuron nodded, "Yeah, why?"

Kakashi sighed, "Lady Tsunade told me to come out here to find three gennin that were supposed to be my students... she also said I'd recognize them when I met them"

"Does that mean... you're my new teacher?"

Kakashi tilted his head, "Looks like it... I'll try to have a mission prepared for us tomorrow, for now, why don't you three go home and rest, it looks like you've had a long day"

Saikuron picked Layla up wife-style, "You're right, Layla probably needs to rest right about now"

"Why's that?"

"Her anemia, it's worse than most cases, so she has trouble keeping up when it comes to physical activities, especially after she uses her medical jutsu"

"I'll keep that in mind while I plan out our mission"

* * *

Naruto slurped down some more noodles, "So, Kakashi, is it true that you're taking on new students?"

Kakashi lowered his book, "Yes, a very odd group of gennin. Saikuron and his two followers"

"Saikuron? It's funny, he kind of reminds me of you, in a way"

"Seeing as we both have white hair and green eyes, that makes sense"

"No, I was talking about the way the both of you react to surprises, it seems like despite the fact both of you are so easy-going and kind, anybody that would attempt to assassinate you is just asking for trouble"

"Hm... I think I know what mission I should take them on tomorrow"

"Really? What is it?"

"It's not a mission like any I ever took you on, Naruto"

"Now I'm even more curious..."

* * *

Cuan munched down on another piece of candy, "Hey, master, shouldn't Kakashi sensei be here by now?"

Saikuron smiled, "He might be late, but I'm sure there's a good reason for it"

Layla pointed behind Cuan, "There he is!"

Kakashi waved at them as he stared at the book in his hands, "Hey, guys, sorry I'm late, there was a sale today on one of my favorite book series"

Cuan blew her lid, "That's no excuse to be late!"

Layla smiled innocently, "Cuan, it was by chance, it's not like he planned to be late..."

Saikuron looked at the book,"Hey, is that the 3rd Make-Out Tactics book?"

Kakashi peered over the pages, "You're too young to read stuff like this"

Saikuron sweated, "Sorry, after I read the second book, and it was amazing, but my sisters stopped me from reading them, and I haven't been able to find book three yet..."

"You liked it?"

"Yeah, I have to say, the beggining was a little slow, but after that, it really blossoms into a masterpiece... especially chapter 27... I almost wish I could read it for the first time again"

Kakashi was taken aback, those would've been the exact words he would've used to describe the book, "And... you've never read book three?"

"No... it's hard to find a copy of it these days..."

"Tell you what, if you can find the last book from the 'Kunai to the Heart' series, I'll trade you"

"What about today's mission?"

"This was going to be today's mission anyway, I'll just change the reward to this instead, sound fair?"

Cuan sighed, "If it'll make master happy..."

Layla smiled, "If he'll read it to me like his other books, I wouldn't mind"

Saikuron held his thumb up, "Consider it a deal, Kakashi sensei!"

Kakashi smiled, he had several copies of the book in his hand, but if he could really gain something for it and his students were happy, why not? "Then good luck, the store that orders one every month... sorry, I forgot it's name..."

Saikuron pulled out a map of the Hidden Leaf and started mapping out sections for them to look through, "Alright, Layla, this section here has the most stores in the smallest amount of space, so you should check there. This section here is pretty evenly spaced out, so Cuan, you'll check here. I'll check the rest, sound good?"

The two nodded, "Yeah!"

Kakashi watched as the three of them took off, then he took a peek at the map. It all added up, if they took those paths exactly, they would be back in no time at all.

* * *

Saikuron walked into the last store, if the book wasn't here, he was out of luck. The final store in all of the Hidden Leaf... and he finally found it! The final book from the 'Kunai to the Heart' series! He sighed with relief as he placed his hand on top of it, "And it only took two hours..."

His relief was interrupted as a hand was placed on his shoulder, "Sorry, but that book's mine"

Saikuron took a look at the person behind him, it was a ninja with shades over his eyes and a hoodie over his hair, "Not to be rude, but I already grabbed it, so technically, it's mine"

Shino didn't remove his hand, "I have spent many years searching for the special, unmarked edition of the final book in the 'Kunai to the Heart' series, which contains a special fold-out picture of the lead heroine. It has been many months, but I will not give up, so if you would kindly hand over that book..."

Saikuron looked the ninja over, then leaned in very closely, so that Shino couldn't see his face, "Listen... I'm sure you're a swell guy, really, and if the picture is inside, I'll let you have it, but I'm buying this book, because that is my ninja mission, and I'd rather slowly burn every bug on your bug right in front of your eyes and then slowly drown you in insecticide. You can see my chakra now... do your really want to test my resolve?"

Shino felt Saikuron's chakra expand as he saw the terrifyingly stern look on Saikuron's face, "Well... if you would do me the kindness of giving me the picture afterward... I don't mind if you buy it..."

Saikuron dropped his horror-face and sighed, "Sorry, I don't mean to hurt you, it's just, this is my second mission, and my first under a teacher, so I really want to do it right..."

"Wait, this is your second mission?"

"Yeah, Kakashi must've wanted to take it easy on me, or at least, that's what I thought, but now that I see just how hard it is to find one book..."

"Kakashi is your teacher?"

"Yeah... I've read about a few of his missions, so I figured he would be an excellent teacher. His personality is just as laid-back as I read about, too"

"Hm... what is your name?"

"Saikuron, and you are?"

"Shino, but am curious as to how you detected my bugs"

"Special vision jutsu, it allows me to see beyond what would normally obstruct someone's view, like cloth or walls"

"That's... creepy", Shino suddenly felt violated.

"Don't worry, I don't use it for anything other than scoping out weapons on possible threats", Saikuron bought the book and opened it up, "Hey, is this what you were looking for?"

Shino marveled at the picture as he took it in his hands, "You have no idea how long I've waited for this..."

"Two years?"

Shino looked up to see one of his precious bugs had flown into Saikuron's hand, "How did you do that?"

Saikuron whispered something to it, before it flew back to Shino, "They're living things, too, you just have to treat them with the respect they deserve"

Shino was quiet, and for once, it was because he had nothing to say, "..."

"Hey, you seem like a nice guy, and you have good taste in books, is there another series you could recommend for me?"

"Well... have you read the 'Stainless Steal Heart' series?"

"I did, it was awesome"

"How about the 'Ordered to Hate, Destined to Love' series?"

"Yeah, what I need isn't a good classic, it's something a little more recent"

"Hm... there's one, but I haven't read it yet, but it's called 'Amaterasu, my Love; Uzume, my Bride'. Supposedly, a man finds himself becoming the lover of the sun goddess, but then, is forced into a marriage with Uzume, who knows that he loves Amaterasu. But as it starts to get interesting, he falls for Uzume as well, and he's forced to choose between the two of them. That's all I know about it, anyway"

Saikuron looked for a copy, then bought the first one he saw, "Sounds like a good read, thanks for helping me out, Shino"

Shino nodded, "No problem, have a good day"

Saikuron smiled as he walked off, "You, too!"

* * *

Kakashi looked at two of his pupils, "So, neither of you found it?"

Cuan and Layla hung their heads, "We're sorry, Kakashi sensei..."

"So it's up to Saikuron then..."

Saikuron jumped down into the street, "Somebody say my name?"

Kakashi had his hopes up, but he tried to hide it, "Did you get it?"

Saikuron held it up, "As promised, 'Kunai to the Heart', the final edition"

Kakashi took it in his hands, "This is... great!"

Saikuron looked at the other book in his hands, "The Make-Out Tactics book?"

Kakashi handed him the book as he noticed the one sticking out of Saikuron's pocket, "Here... hey, what book is that?"

Saikuron pulled the book out of his pocket, "It's a new series-"

Kakashi recognized the cover, "Amaterasu, my Love; Uzume, my Bride... I've heard some good things about that series. That's the first book, isn't it?"

"Yeah, would you like to borrow it?"

"Only if you've already read it"

Saikuron held it out, "Here, read it and tell me what you think"

Kakashi looked the book over, reading the summary, "If you judged books by their cover, this one would be a gold mine..."

Layle smiled, "Then our mission was a success! As a team, we prevailed, my lord!"

Cuan held her hands up with excitement, "Yay! Another successful mission! How will we celebrate, master?"

Saikuron looked to the two of them, "How about we go to lunch with our new teacher?"

Kakashi looked over his book, "Sure, why not? Who's buying?"

"I will"

Kakashi squinted, "My students don't normally buy me lunch... this isn't a scheme to see behind my mask, is it?"

"Scheme? If I wanted to see behind your mask, asking is much faster... then there's blackmail"

Kakashi smiled, he had never had a student that was so kind, yet so capable at the same time... if nothing else, lunch would be interesting.


	6. Chapter 6

Kakashi looked down at the bowl of ramen, "This looks good"

Saikuron smiled, "I saw you reading the extra book I brought you, so, what do you think?"

Kakashi nodded his head, "It's a good read, I'm surprised I've never read it myself"

"Well, it only came out about two years ago"

Kakashi looked at the front of the book, "I am curious as to the identity of the author... it's odd for someone with this quality of writing to deny their talent by keeping their name off of the book"

"Maybe it was a bunch of people working together on it"

"That's a possibility..."

Cuan leaned over and whispered into Saikuron's ear, "Hey, master, isn't that book-"

Saikuron nodded, "Yeah, it is, why don't you go ahead and eat?"

Cuan shrugged her shoulders, "Okay, I will"

Layla saw that Kakashi's bowl was empty, "You eat quickly, don't you, Kakashi sensei?"

Kakashi looked up from his book, "Sometimes"

Saikuron looked to Kakashi after he finished his own bowl, "So, how far are you?"

"Almost halfway through... not to be rude, but could you allow me to finish?"

Saikuron smiled, "Sure thing. Cuan, why don't you go and spend the night at Ino's?"

Cuan frowned, "But master... I want to watch..."

Saikuron's eye twitched, "Cuan, no, you're staying at Ino's tonight"

Kakashi leaned in behind Saikuron, "You aren't doing anything that your sensei wouldn't approve of, are you?"

"Of course not"

Kakashi squinted as he pulled Saikuron aside, "Listen, Saikuron, I know that you're young and there are many things you may want to do in your lifetime, but there's a time and a place for-"

"Kakashi, I get that you're just trying to give me some good advice, but it isn't what you think"

"Really? Then what is it you have planned tonight?"

"A quiet night alone with Layla"

"That's not very reassuring"

"You're worrying too much, have a little faith in your student"

"You've been my student for a day, and you also happen to be a teenager, so while you've given me nothing personally to doubt you, there's plenty of reason for me to doubt you. Just, be careful, alright?"

"I will, but thanks for looking out for me, Kakashi sensei"

"Before I let you go, do you really love her?"

"Layla?"

"Yes"

"With all my heart, Kakashi sensei"

"Are you sure? Because from what I've heard, Ino and Temari also believe the same thing"

"Yeah, I'm sure"

"Do either of them know about this? This... 'quiet night' with Layla?"

"I talked to Temari about it earlier, before we started training. I felt really bad... having made her so sad... but she's okay now. She's moved past me, with a little help from someone that I trust will make her happy"

"You set Temari up with a date?"

"Not really, he set himself up, she just hadn't noticed him"

"Who?"

"Shikamaru"

Kakashi thought it over, "That makes sense... and what about Ino?"

"I... told her about it... she seemed pretty upset... so I tried to give her some space. I knew that telling her would hurt... her tears left a scar on my heart that's still healing... but she told me that we were still friends. I honestly... wish I didn't have to... but, I did, while I love them... Layla... she's got my heart, and I'm fairly sure that I'll never get it back. Hell, at this point, I don't even want it back, I want her to have my heart, she deserves it"

Kakashi took notice of the look in Saikuron's eyes, he knew it well, whatever confusion Saikuron had ever had in his heart had been completely straightened out, his heart was set on forever, and nothing would change it. Kakashi sighed, "You've really made up your mind, haven't you?"

"Yeah... I have"

"If you don't mind me asking, what made you fall in love with her?"

"Well... it's hard to explain, but I learned a lot about her recently, and saw just how she felt. It turns out, she's been watching me since I was just a little kid"

"That's... a bit creepy"

"I thought so too, at first, but as it turns out, that was supposed to be her entire life. Her family determined, that since she was anemic and a hemophiliac, she would never be strong enough to do anything other than be a scout, a silent spy that just watched. As her target, she made sure I never saw her, and she never really cared about me at first. She just watched me as I led a simple life, not making any big steps or doing anything drastic, ever. But all of that changed when I decided to become a ninja. She had seen what other ninjas my age could do, and she saw just how pathetic my attempts were. It wasn't possible for someone on such a hopeless level as mine to ever become a ninja, but she watched me as I never gave up.

She watched me train until I my entire body ached with pain and demanded that I do no more, as I forced myself to crawl to the next drill. She was amazed, I was supposed to be a god, capable of anything, yet I struggled just to fail slightly less miserably every day. And then, she decided she would be more than what fate forced on her, she would be more than a scout, she would let her heart decide where she would go... she would be free. Seeing the pain in the person that had set her free made her determined, she would become the greatest medical ninja in the world, even if it killer her. She studied every book she could get her hands on, practiced on small animals that were injured, even though it slowed her down to the point I nearly saw her, she never gave up on her dream.

Once her superiors found out that she had nearly been discovered, they lost it, they were ready to revoke her gennin status and crush her dream of being a ninja altogether. When she explained why she had been performing less than standard, they laughed, because of her extreme anemia, she would never have the stamina to be of any real use, and because of her hemophilia, she couldn't be anywhere near a battlefield. They told her she would die before she could ever help anyone... so she told them she would happily do so... that she would die without regrets"

"That's... pretty heavy"

"You should have felt how afraid she was... how terrified she felt when she told her parents what her true dream was. The courage it took... it would take your breath away. The only thing more powerful than that... was the extreme happiness she felt, when her mother agreed to teach her to be a medical ninja. She struggled so hard, every lesson brought her to her knees, pushed her to her limits, tested her resolve without mercy or relent. One day, she felt like she couldn't take it any more, her dream's weight was crushing her very soul... her hope had slowly chipped away at her, until there was nothing left for it to take.

Her eyes puffed and red, she decided to go back to watching me… and the day she picked… was my worst day of training ever. I literally broke twelve bones and bled from my right eye from trying to attempting to use my genjutsu, ninjutsu, and taijutsu so hard. On that day, even the smallest moves failed to work for me. My brother found me, a broken, bloody pulp that couldn't walk… and right before he could carry me away from the training area, I pulled away from him and made one last attempt before he could stop me.

It was so fast, I barely saw it happen, but I had done it, I used a wind-style jutsu, and it worked perfectly. I was so happy, my blood was drowned out by my tears, and I smiled through the pain. I still remember the words I said when it happened, 'I did it, Kakuro! All that hard work, it finally paid off!'. All of my pain finally had purpose… it was like a flood of happiness and hope, not just wishful hope, but real hope. I guess I had so much hope, that some of it overflowed into Layla.

Ever since then, she's been training as hard as she possibly can without hurting herself permanently, you've seen the result of her training. If there's nothing else I can do with my life, want to make sure hers is happy"

Kakashi smiled, "Fair enough… just don't do anything you might regret later, alright?"

"Of course, Kakashi sensei"

* * *

Layla smiled as she laid on the couch, reading the book Saikuron held over them, "So, what did Kakashi sensei think of your series?"

Saikuron smiled, "He doesn't know that I wrote it"

"It is strange that you wrote a book about your spirit mother being with a man married to her sister"

"I didn't know she was my spirit mother then. But I don't feel bad about it, it's not like I made her out to be an ugly bitch"

"My lord, as if you would ever destroy the image of another god. Besides, your writing is too good to be used for such vile purposes. Please, continue reading!"

"Layla… you'd be the only girl in the world to have these books read to you"

"Well, I really do enjoy the series, and it's intimate time I can spend with my lord…", her tone was bitter sweet, if not a little sad.

"What's wrong?"

Layla frowned, "My stupid anemia and hemophilia… it makes me so weak… I can't even show you how much I love you, my lord…"

He held her gently, "Layla, I told you, I don't care if we can't have sex, I still love you, just the way you are"

She didn't feel any better, "I know… but it's embarrassing… the lover of a god, who cannot provide love…"

"Hm… what if we could change that?"

Layla was surprised, "My lord! You said that was a limit only to be broken when a great many lives are at stake!"

He smiled, "This is an exception, one I'm willing to make for you"

"N-No! I couldn't ask that of you, my lord, it's too much!"

"Love doesn't know the meaning of 'too much'. That's why even the gods fear its power"

"I somewhat agree with you", Layla and Saikuron turned to see the shining godess and shady god standing in the living room.

The sun goddess was looking through a copy of 'Amaterasu, my Love; Uzume, my Bride', with a serious look on her face, "Son... how old were you when you wrote this?"

"I wrote it a few years ago, before I knew... you were my spirit parents"

She closed the book, "Well, that explains it, I like the story for the most part, but there's one major flaw in the plot"

"What's that?"

Amaterasu closed the book and began flailing her arms rapidly, "As if I would ever lose a lover to my little sister!"

The moon god patted her back, "Relax, it's just fiction"

Saikuron smiled, "Thanks, Tsukuyomi"

Tsukuyomi glared at him, "Although... you could have at least _included me in the book_"

Saikuron felt a horrible shiver go up his spine as the words flew from Tsukuyomi's mouth, "Sorry about that... I didn't do it consciously"

Amaterasu shook off her rage, "On to more pressing matters, Saikuron, it appears you have decided to become a god after all. We have come to teach you how to fully master these powers, come, you have much to learn-"

"Not to rain on your parade, but I have no intentions of becoming a god, at least not permanently"

They were taken aback, Tsukuyomi attempted to remain calm, "Godhood is not something to be taken lightly, you either are a god, or you are not. You cannot use it's advantages whenever it pleases you. If you wish to use the powers of a god, you must be a god"

"Sorry, but in that flash of momentary godhood, I saw what being a god would do to me, and I'd rather not go down that road"

"What road?"

"A road filled with no suffering of my own, yet piled up to the eyes with the suffering of others, where I've watched it for so long that my heart hardens over to the point that I don't blink at the death of loved ones. Maybe you two are okay with that, having been born with it, but I'm not going to let myself become that"

"... Be that as it may, you cannot abuse the power at will. If you have no intentions of becoming a god, the blood within you will not activate"

"Fine", he quickly pulled out a kunai, slicing his own hand and Layla's before she could react, then placed his wound over hers, "Now, I can't fail… I won't let it happen"

Both of the gods watched on as an aura surrounded the two of them. Layla could feel as his blood began to flow into her hand, "Saikuron… you… your hand"

He smiled at her gently, "Now, you don't need to worry about your blood being too weak or little, I will be your strength, and give as much as you need"

Layla felt a tear form in the corner of her eye, for so long, she had silently cursed her feeble body for being so weak. So long, had reality tormented her with the inability to have a child and live, shattering her dreams of ever having a family with her beloved. In a single second, he had removed her lifetime of sorrows, "Saikuron…"

Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi both watched the smile upon their spirit son's face, and they found one of the rare moments where humanity had given more than they could've imagined. Amaterasu sighed, "Well, if that's what you want, you can remain a human… for now"

Tsukuyomi nodded, "I will not take from you that which is precious, just be careful with it, even a beautiful lotus cannot withstand fire's brightening touch"

Of course, Layla was kissing Saikuron too passionately for her to care or for him to respond. Amaterasu, slightly irritated at being ignored, took the hint, "Come, we have other work to do"

Tsukuyomi shrugged, "Have a good night, my son"

In the back of her mind, Layla registered what the two gods had said before they vanished, as she thought to herself, _"Oh, he will, I'll see to that"_

* * *

Saikuron's eyes fluttered open, as the scent of food filled his nose. He sat up to see that Layla was cooking, wearing only his shirt. He leaned over her shoulder, "Whatcha cooking?"

Layla smiled, "Some eggs"

Saikuron's eyebrow went up as he looked at the table… she had cooked a ton of eggs, each plate was different from the last, and all of them looked delicious, "You're a really good cook"

She showed him her bright teeth, "I guess I was just excited"

"Excited?"

"Here", she held her hand over her stomach, as a bright, green aura glowed underneath her hand.

Saikuron's eyes went wide, he had read books on medical ninjutsu, he knew what she had just done, "Layla… really?!"

She rapidly nodded her head as she stood on her toes in excitement, "We must feast and enjoy this day, because it's the greatest in my life, no, the greatest in all of history!"

Saikuron smiled as she danced with joy, "Well, I was hoping that I could save this for later, but I guess that now's the time"

Layla gasped as she watched him got down on a knee, "S-Saikuron!"

He pulled out a box and revealed a tiny ring, with a humble diamond, "When I was given the choice of being a god… everything else was drowned out, my thoughts, my will, it was all replaced by a desire to be stronger. That was, until I heard someone cry out to me, their voice easing my desire, by showing that strength was nothing without something to use it for. You were that voice, making sure I didn't stray from the right path… though it may be limited, I want to give you all of my strength, forever. Layla… will you marry me?"

Layla cried with happiness as she hugged him, "Yes! Yes! A million times over, yes!"

He put the ring around her delicate finger, it was a perfect fit. He watched as she pinched herself, "What are you doing?"

She stopped, "Just making sure I wasn't dreaming again"

He took her hands, "Dreaming with your eyes open is a lot better, isn't it?"

The moment took a quick dive as the door was broken down by an angry Tsunade, "Saikuron!"

He took a defensive stance in front of Layla, "Yes, Lady Tsunade?"

"Care to explain to my why two strange ninjas, claiming to be gods, just informed me that Layla is now bearing your child and threatened to sell my underwear publicly if I didn't make sure you two got married?!"

Saikuron sighed, his spirit parents had gone too far, "Lady Tsunade, please calm down, I can explain-"

"If this is some kind of prank, you're going to be dead before you hit the ground!"

Saikuron held his hands up, "This isn't a prank, I had nothing to do with it, they did it of their own accord"

"Listen, you! I don't care if you had nothing to do with it, unless you get my panties back, I'm going to rip you limb from limb, got it?!"

Layla revealed her ring with a smile, "Lady Tsunade, all we are in need of is a priest, and the day off, if that's not too much trouble"

Tsunade looked into Layla's eyes, "Hm… okay, fine, I can get you a priest"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. This is what we get for asking a human to assist us", Amaterasu scoffed behind Tsunade.

Tsukuyomi held his forehead, "You weren't very clear when you instructed her to assist them…"

Tsunade pointed at Amaterasu, "Return my underwear now!"

Amaterasu wasn't pleased at the order, "Complete the task and you'll get your damned underwear!"

Tsukuyomi broke the two of them up, "Tsunade, I'm afraid Amaterasu was unclear as to the kind of assistance we required. We are capable of performing the ceremony ourselves, what we needed was someone to gather Saikuron's friends"

"Listen, I'm not against doing it, but if I don't get my underwear back, you'll get little more than a butt-kicking"

Tsukuyomi handed her a pair of pink panties, "Here, these are yours. My apologies for Amaterasu's over-eagerness"

Tsunade took the undergarments and somewhat calmed down, "Saikuron, since you asked politely and followed procedure, I'll approve of the wedding. But you'll have to wait until sunset, so that I can create some free time for anyone you would want to invite"

Saikuron smiled, "Of course, Lady Tsunade"

* * *

The news spread like a wildfire, soon enough, any ninja that had ever met him heard about the wedding and was working double-time to make sure that they would be able to make it in time. Unfortunately, this quickly found Saikuron under the Kakashi's gaze, "Well, you were right about one thing, I certainly wasn't expecting this"

Saikuron smiled, "Neither was I"

"Hm... well, as your sensei, I wish you the best. As a critic... your series is really good"

"When did you figure out I wrote it?"

"The second time you asked if I liked it. All authors love seeing their work make people happy"

"Fair's fair"

"So when is book five coming out?"

"You read books one through four?"

"Yes, so when is book five coming out?"

"I'm almost done with it. But I have a really bad feeling something strange is about to happen..."

"Hm... I have that feeling so often that I've gotten used to it. Maybe you're just being paranoid"

"Yeah, I'm probably just-"

He was cut off as Guy suddenly put him in a chokehold, "Saikuron! As your former teacher, I will throw your bachelor party!"

Saikuron tapped Guy's arm, "Guy... can't... breath..."

Kakashi broke the hold and put his hand on Saikuron's shoulder, "Guy, you're getting a little ahead of yourself here. Why don't you let Saikuron choose who'll throw his bachelor party?"

Saikuron was slightly grateful at first, but that changed when he saw how hard Kakashi and Guy were staring at him; they wanted him to pick between the two of them. In all honesty, he didn't really care about the party, he was just planning on killing time until sunset. But it looked like he was either going to pick one of them or get killed by both of them. He was rescued as he spotted a familiar face around the corner, "Hey, Shikamaru! Will you do me a favor?!"

Shikamaru looked over at him, "What is it?"

"Throw my bachelor party?"

Shikamaru thought it over, "Sheesh... how troublesome... I'll do it"

Guy's face hit the floor, while Kakashi cooly played off his dissapointment, "Looks like neither of us will be throwing the party, Guy"

Guy was a little sad, "Oh well..."

"A party thrown by Shikamaru... this could get interesting"

* * *

Saikuron arrived at the location for the party, but before he could open the door, he heard Shikamaru behind him, "I wouldn't go in there"

Saikuron turned around, "Why not?"

"There's a Saikuron look-alike in there, posing as you. I set this all up so that everyone would assume you were here at this party, so that I could take you to the _real_ party. The party inside is fun and all, sure, but it's not the kind of party I think you'd like"

"So... where's the real party?"

"Follow me"

Shikamaru led him to small enclosure, deep within the forest, where the air was calm and the only sound that could be heard was the small scamper of animals and their breathing. Saikuron looked around, "Where are we?"

Shikamaru smiled, "This is a place I use to avoid Ino when she wants to ask me for favors that involve work. Here, you can relax and just enjoy the peace and quiet."

Saikuron took a deep breath, "Thank you, Shikamaru."

Cuan jumped down from a tree, "Master!"

Saikuron caught her as she jumped to hug him with a smile. Shikamaru smiled as well, "From what I've seen, you prefer a small get-together, opposed to a big party, so I made sure your family didn't skip town"

Saikuron watched as his sisters and his brother walked into his sight, all four of them smiling brightly. Shirani hugged her brother with tears in her eyes, "Oh my god, my little brother's getting married! I'm so happy for you!"

Neela nodded, "It's a great day, indeed"

Yamagari even gave way to a small smirk, "My, my, you've been busy lately"

Kakuro flashed his teeth with pride, "I'm wishin' ya nothing but the best!"

Cuan looked up at him with anticipation, "Hey, master! Do you want to have a daughter or a son first?"

Saikuron smiled as the day carried on with silly questions and crazy talk. He was happy to be with his family, right up until he saw the sun a few moments from the horizon, "Hey, I need to get going, I can't be late"

When he arrived at the clearing in his tuxedo, he found that Kakashi was standing at the alter, wearing proper robes. He raised an eyebrow, "Um... Kakashi-sensei... why are you dressed like that?"

Kakashi smiled, "What, I can't get the qualifications to be your priest?"

Saikuron rubbed the back of his head, "No, it's fine"

Kakashi looked at the sun, "Alright then, go ahead and get ready to walk out back there"

Saikuron did as instructed and made his way to his position. After a few moments of waiting, he walked down the aisle, to find it was surrounded by people, everyone he'd met in his short time in the Hidden Leaf, they were all dressed up nicely and standing at attention. For the first time in his life, Saikuron was happy to be watched. He loved and trusted every member of the crowd, they made him feel like he belonged.

As he stepped onto the alter, he turned to look at his bride. Layla was stunning, her pearl-white skin looked even more beautiful with the dress she wore. As she took her last step onto the alter, he found himself locked into her stunning eyes. Godhood was nothing compared to that moment. The world could've fallen apart around him, but as long as he could look into her eyes, he could die a happy man. Kakashi skipped the rest of the mush and said what needed saying, "I won't mince words, you may kiss the bride"

Those words were last ones he had before the kunai entered his heart.

As he fell, he realized it had come from behind, someone from the shadows, that had been laying in wait for the moment when everyone's guard was down. The ground was cold and unforgiving, instilling his looming fate into his mind. With all his might, he pulled his head up to see his attacker: a man in a mask with only the eye holes cut out. Saikuron watched as he pointed a blade at Layla, "You hold the blood of a god. I shall enjoy extracting it from you"

Saikuron, his mind shot so that he was going only on instinct, pulled the kunai from his heart and slashed at the man. He managed to make a small wound on his hand, not a serious wound, but enough to get him away from Layla, "I don't know... who you are... but you won't... touch her!"

The masked man seemed surprised, "I expected a little fight out of you, but this was unexpected. You have only a few moments to live, after that, I will take her and use her blood to become a god. You cannot stop me"

Saikuron ground his teeth, he could feel it, his life was slipping away by the second, not even Layla would've been able to save him with all her skills. He would leave her, alone, a fate he would never wish upon anyone, especially not his wife and unborn child. He had accepted that he would die before, but not like this, not while Layla would mourn his loss, and his child would never know his love. It wasn't going to end like this, the pain his death would bring at this moment was too great for him to allow. Saikuron let a tear fall from his eye, he had prayed on sleepless nights that this would never come to be, but he had no choice.

He stood up straight and started to glow. The air around him swirled into a small vortex as he eyes open, glowing a bright purple. He held his hand out before him, as the hole in his chest closed, "I am not a force you can stop. I am not going to die. I am not something you can place expectations on. I am a god. I will one day fall into the despair of losing those I care about. I will live forever without them, feeling a pain deep enough to make me regret my decision at times, but I will always keep them in my heart, because they're worth having there. You have burdened me with a great pain, but as a god, I know it is not yet your place to die. But that day will come with no small amount of my personal pleasure"

He waved his hand, and the masked figure was thrust far away from them, a might cyclone battering his body mercilessly. Layla turned to look at Saikuron, and she knew, she could see it, that sorrow in his eyes. All of his happiness had been stolen away, no matter how much he enjoyed himself, not matter how much love and memories he would cherish with her forever, she could tell it had been instilled in his heart and soul; he would have to live without her one day. That thought that had now become fact... it tore up his soul, even if he would cherish and love her until the day she had to leave this earth, that scar would forever be left on his heart.

Layla began to cry, her face buried in his shoulder, she could feel his pain, "This isn't how it was supposed to be! This isn't fair! Why... why?!"

Saikuron smiled through his warm tears, as he pulled her face away from his chest, "Because sometimes life isn't fair. Sometimes it sucks. Sometimes it's cruel. Sometimes you want to give up on it...", he wiped her tears away, "... but I'll never regret my life. No matter how much pain I'll feel, no matter how hard it hurts, even if I have to do it forever, I made the choice to live. I will live for you... and love you... forever..."

As their lips touched, everyone shed a tear. The force of the love between them... and the pain they felt for one another... it was too much. Even Sasuke's heart felt the sting and the warmth. When they finally pulled away, he placed the ring on her finger with care, she looked at it through her watery eyes. He cradled her head, his comforting touch useless against the tears and the pain. His own fell as well, for joy and for sorrow, that mix in his mind taring him up inside.

Just when he felt his lowest, he sensed the presence of two people he honestly didn't want to see. Amaterasu spoke first, "Saikuron, I-"

He cut her off, "Shut up. Just... let me have this moment..."

Tsukuyomi looked to Amaterasu, nodded, then back at Saikuron, "There is something you need to have, before we depart"

"What?"

The two gods smiled at each other, then Amaterasu looked to Layla with a gentle gaze, "Your wedding presents. We were happy when you were born, because we thought we would never have to relinquish them. But now, we see that they can serve a better purpose"

Layla watched as Amaterasu placed her hand upon her forehead, "What are you doing?"

Amaterasu smiled as her aura began to fade, her skin losing color, "My immortality... I have treasured it and I have abused it... perhaps you will do better with it than I have"

Layla felt her skin grow warm as she was enveloped in a bright aura. Tsukuyomi placed his hand upon her stomach, "I always wanted a grandchild. Someone I could give wisdom to, and teach many life lessons to. Good thing he's got a father like he does. Maybe the afterlife will be nice. I can catch up with some of my old war friends..."

The two fading gods held hands as they began to lose all color. Saikuron hugged them both, "Thank you..."

Amaterasu smiled, "Well, I couldn't give you much, but at least, at least you have her"

Tsukuyomi hugged him tightly, "Be a kind and benevolent god, alright? Don't make me come back and kick your butt..."

Saikuron smiled as they faded from his arms, then looked back to Layla, a smile on his face. As he hugged her, his smile widdened, "How ironic... that my parents would be the ones to take away my lonliness... after I was an orphan..."

A light began to glow around them, as their bodies became powerful beyond measure. Naruto couldn't help but speak up, "So... what happens now?"

Saikuron looked at the villagers, "All of you, thank you, for being a part of my life. It was wonderful, and I wouldn't have traded it for anything. But I can't stay forever, and now, it's my time to leave. May you all lead wonderful lives. Layla, if you would do the honors"

Layla tossed her bouquet into the air, after a short distance it was caught by Hinata, who blushed next to Naruto. When everyone looked back to see their reactions, they were gone. From that day on, nobody in the Hidden Leaf ever saw Layla, Saikuron, or Cuan ever again.

* * *

After a few months had passed, everyone had accepted the fact they probably would never find them, that as gods, they were otherwise busy. The entire village had tried to let it fade from their minds as they got excited to watch the solar eclipse. Kakashi wondered how things were going for his students, wherever they were. As the moon passed over the sun, he made sure not to blink, so that he wouldn't miss a second of it. He was surprised to see that a shooting star passed right in front of the moon. What were the odds? A solar eclipse with shooting star, he didn't think it would happen in his lifetime. He sat up after the event was over, only to hit his head against something hard.

He immediately jumped to his feet, having been caught off guard, "Who's there?!"

Kakashi lowered his kunai as he recognized the glowing entity before him, "It took me longer than I thought it would, but it's done, just like I promised"

Kakashi smiled as he took the book in his hands, "Book five, the final book?"

"All good things must come to an end"

"Fair enough, you been busy lately?"

"Balancing the heavens, keeping peace on earth... I had a tough time deciding on how to end the book, but I think I did a good job"

"I look forward to reading it"

"Good-bye... Kakashi-sensei"

"Good-bye... Saikuron"


End file.
